At the latest BALTFISH forum, at which representatives of Baltic EU Member States and stakeholders such as the Commission, ICES, HELCOM, the Baltic Sea RAC, NGOs and fishermenโs representatives meet, Danish-led proposals for the discard ban were discussed.
The discard ban, a key plank of the new CFP, will enter into force gradually from the start of 2015. Baltic Member States are though working to develop a set of recommendations that will facilitate the effective implementation of the discard ban, which is tailored to the particularities of the Baltic.
At todayโs high level meeting, at which national representatives and the Commission meet in private, several issues relating to the ban are up for discussion. These can be found in theย attached document.
The introduction of a regionally adapted discard ban is fraught with complexity. Several legal concerns were raised at the meeting, and discussions concerning which legislation would be amended for which issues took place.
Requests to ICES and national research institutes for data concerning the survivability of discarded fish will not be able to be answered within the next year. This will affect which flatfish are included under the landing obligation. Although it is optional to include them with the ban, several Member States have voiced their desire to add species to the list of those prohibited from discarding, although the consensus seemed to favour waiting for more accurate advice to avoid control issues in the future.
Moreover, the deadlock between Council and Parliament concerning multiannual management plans (MAPs) is preventing MAPs from being amended to take account of the new legislation relating to the discard ban. In addition, the salmon MAP which has passed through the Parliament plenary is sitting with the Council and the Lithuanian Presidency may take the opportunity to move this forward and integrate the discard ban into the proposal.
With regard to inter-species flexibility, a provision in the basic Regulation, representatives were unclear as to how this would be applied and sought clarification.
Discussions concerning seal damaged fish also took place. A desire to land such fish but for them not to be counted against the quota was voiced, although legal practicalities may make this solution unviable.
Control of the discard ban will be discussed in more detail at a German hosted meeting in Hamburg on 23 September. With no standardised procedures for controlling discard-free fisheries in place, it is hoped that a clearer picture for control issues will come out of the meeting. Examples of fisheries with effective discard bans in place that do not make use of CCTV may be provided.
Furthermore, the proposed lowering of the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) of cod from 38 to 35 centimetres was taken up by BALTFISH. A range of opinions were voiced on how to proceed with the matter, however, it remains unclear when or how this would be done, or which legislation would need to be amended in practice.