The European Commission (EC) has adopted three delegated regulations establishing so-called “discard plans” for certain demersal fisheries and one for pelagic fisheries. These plans are a temporary measure facilitating the phase-out of discards and the phase-in of a new region-specific style of fisheries management.
The new plans concern certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea and EU waters of ICES Division IIa, demersal fisheries in Northwestern waters and Southwestern waters of the Atlantic as well as pelagic fisheries in Southwestern Atlantic waters.
Landing obligations for some demersal fisheries of the Atlantic Ocean and of the North Sea have been in force since 1 January 2016, but these new discard plans, which will apply from 1 January 2017, widen the scope further.
Discard plans provide for two types of exemptions: The first, called “de minimis” exemptions, allow operators to discard a small percentage of catches in those fisheries where increasing selectivity is either too difficult or too expensive; the second group, the so-called “survivability exemptions,” allow operators to throw back specimens that have a high chance of surviving, as is the case for instance of Norway lobster.
These exceptions were examined by the EU's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).
The demersal discard plans are set to last until the end of 2018, after which they should be replaced by multiannual plans.
