Commissioner’s objective to ban all discards is “superficial and a PR driven approach”

Ireland has taken a lead role in the debate on dumping fish at sea, by publishing an audit of Irish fisheries on a stock-by-stock basis for demersal species and proposals to mitigate discarding. According to FAO figures, the Northeast Atlantic has the ‘second highest discard level world-wide, estimated to be 1.3m tonnes, the majority being attributed to the EU fisheries.’

Launching the study, Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said the Atlas of Demersal Discarding would inform the process ‘to achieve real change and a significant reduction in discarding with the new Common Fisheries Policy.’

But he cautioned that other member states fished the same stocks in the same areas; used similar gear and operated under the same market conditions, and called on them to also publish their figures.

“I have consistently said that discarding is a complex issue…It will only be when the full extent of the available international data are complied can we collectively make informed decisions on a coherent EU-wide discard policy, underpinned by a focussed suite of measures to significantly reduce and ultimately eliminate discards.”

The Atlas is divided into four sections:

overview of Irish catch sampling (1995-2009)
Irish discarding patterns by species (maps and tables synopsis by species by métier
technical methods to reduce discarding (selective gear / species selection) and
reducing discards in Irish fisheries (two case studies: otter trawl fishery targeting mixed whitefish species in the Celtic Sea and the nephrops métiers)

Welcoming the publication, Sean O’Donoghue, chairman of the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) said the Atlas was a “positive step” in addressing the problem, in contrast to the EU Commissioner’s stated objective of banning all discards, which he said demonstrated a “superficial and PR driven approach to the issue”.

He added that forcing fishermen to land fish that has no prospect of sale and which had to be transported great distances for processing into fishmeal was “totally unacceptable, uneconomic and most importantly, will not contribute to the sustainable exploitation of stocks.”

But he too cautioned that the Atlas was only based on analysis and catching of the Irish fishing fleet which accounted for just 15% of the fish landed from waters where the Irish fleet operates.

The same problems apply to French, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian, UK and other fleets, accounting for 85% of the landings in the same areas, he said.

Mr O’Donoghue added that Ireland should be given credit for leading “the real debate” and that reasoned dialogue was called for so that the EU could take “measured, practical decisions in the lead-up to the new Common Fisheries Policy”.

What causes discarding?
It is driven by economic and/or legislative reasons. Lack of marketing opportunities, minimum landing size and restrictive quota limits can all result in discarding. The practice represents an underutilisation of marine resources and may significantly affect stock productivity.

The majority of EC fisheries are controlled and monitored based on the fish ‘landed’ rather than the fish ‘caught’. Consequently, the most cost effective way to deal with unwanted by-catch [the part of the catch that is captured incidental to the target species and as such may have some economic value] by individual vessel operators has been to discard. Currently, there is no financial benefit in avoiding discarding as there is no individual cost to fishers associated with discarding.

Legal requirement (FIF)

Under current EU law, discarding is a legal requirement to adhere to quota restrictions and legal minimum landings sizes. The FIF has opposed (on record) any reduction in mesh size for gillnets off the Irish coast, introduced by the EU as being anti-conservation and leading to higher levels of discarding of small hake by non-Irish vessels who utilise smaller mesh sizes allowed.

Measures to reduce discarding (FIF)

seasonal closures for cod fisheries off the North and southeast coasts (already yielding major improvements in Celtic Sea cod stocks)
Seasonal closure Dublin Bay prawns fishery on the Porcupine Bank (adopted by EU in 2010)
seasonal closure for Dublin Bay prawn fishery in the Irish Sea (commenced in 1999)
mesh sizes greater than legal limits set for monkfish and prawn fisheries
adoption by some vessels of selective ‘Swedish Grid’ to target prawns which eliminates as far as possible cod, haddock and whiting but with some practical and economic difficulties.
introduction of escape panels to allow majority of juvenile haddock and whiting to pass through trawl nets

Discarding, an Irish perspective

Ireland’s proportional share of TAC of the top 10 most economically important commercial demersal species in the waters around Ireland in which Ireland has a TAC allocation

In Ireland, in common with most European fisheries, the majority of discarding is associated with the capture of fish that are either below the minimum landing size, fish for which there are no commercial value or where the quota has been exhausted.

Discarding contributes to the overall fishing mortality at stock level. Therefore, for benefits to be felt at stock level, it is necessary that those fleets that make the highest contribution are the primary focus for discard reduction plans.

While a given fishery may have relatively high discard rates, if the catch or effort associated with the fleet is small in comparison to other fleets, then the benefit of reducing discards will be minimal. In order for a more informative view of the scale and impact of discarding at a stock level, it would be necessary to include all the internationally available data.

The attached table shows the relative Irish share of the international TACs for ICES divisions VI and VII (the waters around Ireland). This illustrates that the quota share to Ireland is roughly 25% of the total allowable catch (landings). In order to understand the relative contribution Ireland makes in relation to other countries in terms of total catch (landings plus discards), a discard Atlas of all EU fisheries would be a very positive and informative step to help tackle the issue.