WWF has said that it welcomes new proposals agreed at the EU/Norway fisheries talks this week.
Positive outcomes from the negotiations include an agreement that species including haddock and plaice should be subject to long term management plans and the go ahead for new “catch quota” trials in the North Sea.
WWF firmly supports the use of catch quotas, which record the amount of fish removed from the sea, rather than the amount of fish landed, reducing the levels of fish that are caught and subsequently discarded.
In 2006 it was estimated that total removals of fish from the sea amounted to around three times the reported landings, suggesting that many fish are thrown overboard as discards before the fishing boat reaches harbour. In the North Sea, around a third of all catches are lost in this way, and WWF estimates that a million tonnes of fish are discarded each year. As the majority of fish are dead when thrown back overboard, discards pose a huge barrier to achieving abundant stock levels, healthy seas and profitable and sustainable fisheries.
Catch quotas can bring about positive changes in fishing techniques and behaviour to reduce the wasteful practice of discarding, says WWF. Trials in Denmark have already shown encouraging results, with fleets fishing more selectively to net their target species. Last year WWF filmed one of the Danish boats participating in the trials to show the benefits of this scheme. Fishermen are happy to receive an increase in quota for taking part in the scheme, and scientists are gaining much more reliable data on catches, through the use of remote electronic monitoring (onboard cameras).
