The Scottish government is seeking support from the European Union and Norway to expand its scheme to cut cod discards while allowing fishermen to land more fish.
An expansion of catch quotas for 2012 is dependent on the outcome of annual negotiations with Norway, during which fishing quotas for shared fish stocks between the EU and Norway will be agreed.
Under a catch-quota scheme, vessels can land, rather than be forced to discard, an extra amount equal to 12 percent of the TAC for cod, according to the Scottish government. This is less than the amount fishermen are estimated to have discarded under the traditional quota system. To ensure there are no discards, the fishing practices of participating vessels is fully documented through on-board cameras.
The first round of negotiations begins Tuesday in Brussels.
“Discards are enforced on our fishermen by a failing Common Fisheries Policy and are a shocking waste of a precious food resource. We want to see our fishermen land all they catch and command a price for each fish, in return for taking less out of the sea in the first place,” said Richard Lochhead, Scottish fisheries secretary.
“That is what catch quotas help to achieve. For 2011 we were able to expand the scheme to 23 vessels, around a quarter of the whitefish fleet. However, many more skippers wanted to join, which is why I am seeking agreement to allow all Scottish vessels who wish to take part to do so,” said Lochhead. “As the European Commission has acknowledged, catch quotas can form an important [part] of the solution as we build toward a discard-free fishery. We now need the commission and Norway to back our efforts and agree to an expanded scheme next year.”
