The Irish minister for agriculture, food and the marine, Simon Coveney, has tabled an approach to end the current practice of discarding of fish at sea.
Minister Coveney met fishing industry representatives yesterday and discussed these proposals in advance of the EU Fisheries Council which takes place today in Luxembourg.
The Fisheries Council will focus on ironing out outstanding political issues in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform package with the aim of achieving a General Council Approach in advance of future talks with the European Parliament. The Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is expected to be concluded during the Irish Presidency in the first six months of 2013. A key element of the reform is addressing the complex problem of fish discards.
In order to find solutions, the Minister has tabled a new approach which takes into account the real practical difficulties for fishermen of changing practices, the economic impacts and other constraints which impact fishermen in mixed fisheries. The proposal involves delivering a progressive and phased approach to the obligation to land all catches of quota stocks in a mixed fishery context.
Minister Coveney explained,"The approach I favour is focused on incentivising changes in fishing behaviour, reducing catches of juvenile fish and allowing fish stocks to grow over a set period. I believe that this approach stands the best chance of getting buy-in from fishermen and in this way effectively delivering more environmentally friendly fishing practices and sustainable fisheries".
