Oceana is calling for total prohibition of discards in the European fleet to protect fishing resources and marine ecosystems.
More than 7.3 million tonnes of fish are thrown overboard every year. This amount represents 8% of the world’s total catch. This practice, known as discards, consists of throwing away the portion of the catch which is of no commercial value or which infringes some current norm or regulation. The accidental capture of non-commercial or non-target species, catches that are over the quota or that are too young, or even the simple desire to raise the product market price are some of the reasons why discards are such a widespread practice.
Discards are not only a waste of fishing resources, they also pose an additional problem where over-exploitation is concerned as they cannot be adequately measured for the purposes of evaluating the real state of stocks.
According to Oceana, countries such as Norway and Iceland have already made the new measure of prohibiting discards a part of their national legislation.
For the European Commission, minimising discards is a priority of the first order for management of fishing grounds. That is why the Commission intends to publish a Communication setting out the procedures for the elimination of this practice in the fishing fleet in the coming years.
