Representatives of the Member States and the regional Advisory Councils discussed options for controlling the implementation of the new discard ban at a meeting organised by the European Fisheries Control Agency last week.
The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) had invited Member States and stakeholders to a meeting in Dubrovnik last week to discuss a range of proposals to support the implementation and control of the upcoming landing obligation.
A draft report from the EFCA outlined a set of phased actions, beginning with ensuring more accurate reporting of discards by controlling compliance with legislation already in place (Art. 14.4 of the Control Regulation (EC No. 1224/2009)) requiring reporting of discards in the logbook. This would be complemented with an analysis of the current discard patterns, including causes and possible mitigation measures, enabling Member States and the EFCA to do a risk analysis that can then steer monitoring and control in the implementation phase of the discard ban.
The EFCA has also compiled a list of different control and monitoring tools that are available and their respective strengths and weaknesses, to inform regional choices in the development of discard ban plans.
There was also a discussion on other aspects that are useful to contemplate in the context of the discard ban, but will need further consideration and a greater mind-shift among managers as well as sector, such as a “reversal of the burden of proof”, as well as use of incentives, enabling more results-based management and initiatives from the sector. Both the Commission and the EFCA emphasized the importance of “ownership” and involvement of stakeholders in the development of the discard ban plans.
In the end, stakeholders agreed – and this was emphasised from the Baltic Sea RAC perspective – that harmonised monitoring and control of the landing obligation will be very important over the years to come, and is a key part of ensuring a level playing field for the fishing sector. Therefore, the EFCA proposals were broadly welcomed, and they were encouraged to continue their work.