CFP Deal – Business as usual – quota advice still ignored
Conservationists took a rather different view from the Government over the 2015 CFP deal complaining that it was business as usual with politicians ignoring scientific advice on quotas – read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/16/fishing-quotas-defy-scientists-advice
Defra ‘Deal strikes the right balance between supporting business and conserving fish stocks. The UK government has delivered a fair deal for fishermen today, striking the right balance between supporting businesses and conserving fish stocks to safeguard the future livelihoods of our fishing fleets and their local communities. This follows negotiations at the annual EU Fisheries and Agriculture Council where fishing quotas for 2015 were agreed. Decisions were based on three clear principles: following the available scientific advice; achieving sustainable levels of fishing; and reducing discards. The government entered negotiations facing challenging proposals from the Commission for precautionary reductions in the quotas of many stocks, but important increases were agreed for many parts of the UK’s fishing fleet. This includes increases to cod and haddock in the North Sea, Nephrops (prawns) in the Celtic Sea, sole in the Western Channel and angler (monkfish) and haddock in the West of Scotland.’ To read more click here
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-secures-fair-fisheries-deal-in-europe
Discard Ban for pelagic fish comes into force
Defra ‘The landing obligation, also called the discard ban has come into force, and means that you have to land all the fish that you catch if they:
- are pelagic quota species, including blue whiting, boarfish, herring, horse mackerel, mackerel, Norway pout, sandeel and sprat
- include by-catch of quota species, such as cod and whiting
- include any quota fish that are below the minimum landing size (MLS)
The landing obligation applies from 1 January 2015. It only applies to you if you target pelagic quota species. For all other fisheries, the landing obligation doesn’t apply to you, and you must follow the current rules.