New fish stocks join CFP discard ban
Worldfishing.net reports, 2nd January 2017: UK fisheries minister George Eustice announced on New Year’s Day that the latest phase of the discard ban for demersaldemersal Living on the seabed species has now come into force.
According to DEFRA, the landing obligation — otherwise known as the discard ban — has been gradually introduced to allow time to adapt and two species — North Sea cod and North Western Waters pollack — have joined the list of fish that must be landed. Existing bans for species such as sole, plaice and haddock have also been extended to include more vessels.
“Fishing sustainably is one of our biggest priorities, both now and for the future, and the discard ban is an incredibly important step to help us reach maximum sustainable yield by 2020,” George Eustice said.
“While there will always be challenges in adapting to new polices, ending the wasteful practice of throwing dead fish back overboard will not only help maintain stock levels, but will help create a profitable fishing industry for years to come.”
Describing the discard ban as playing a crucial role in helping the UK achieve sustainable fishing levels by 2020, he said that the latest phase of the discard ban follows the successful implementation of the ban to pelagicpelagic The ecological area consisting of the open sea away from the coast and the ocean bottom. The pelagic zone contains organisms such as surface seaweeds, many species of fish and sharks and some mammals, such as whales and dolphins. Pelagic animals may remain solely in the pelagic zone or may move among zones. species such as mackerel and blue whiting in 2015, and the extension to demersal species haddock, sole and plaice at the start of 2016.
DEFRA has also stated that to help small scale fishermen adapt and operate under the discard ban, the UK Government secured extra quota for new landing obligation species at the recent EU Ag and Fish Council.
The first 100 tonnes of additional quota, and 10% on the top of that, will be passed to inshore fisheries, supporting the Government’s commitment to delivering for smaller fishing vessels.
Source: Worldfishing.net, 2nd January 2017. For further details, see www.worldfishing.net/news101/industry-news/latest-phase-of-discard-ban-takes-effect
