The Environmental Defense Fund has developed a free manual that provides tools to help European fisheries reduce discards.
The user-friendly manual provides tools and case studies to aid fishermen and fishery managers as they work together to develop proposals and find solutions that support the phasing out of discards while ensuring fisheries remain viable.
We believe this manual is the first of its kind in the EU, and we hope it helps bring new fisheries management tools to the discussion on ending discarding, as well as expanding on opportunities offered by existing tools, said Melanie Siggs, senior director for Environmental Defense Fund’s EU Oceans program. The approaches outlined in the guide are tangible ways for fishermen to harness their innovative skills and make this legislation work for them. Successful implementation is critical to our fisheries and those who depend upon them.
The manual is categorised by two key approaches. The first section outlines tools that help ensure Member States use their available catch quota in the smartest way possible through well-designed, robust quota management systems. Some of the smart tools outlined include: transferability of quota; substituting one species’ quota to cover catch of a different species based on a weighted formula; quota pools (where fishermen cooperatively pool their species quota together); and buffer quotas (where a portion of quota is set aside for later use). Such tools demonstrate the benefits of giving fishers more of a stake in their fishery.
The second section of the manual focuses on changes in the day-to-day operation of the fishing industry, such as by introducing avoidance measures techniques that can reduce discarding. The measures presented include fishing at different depths and gear switching by using new technologies, real-time spatial and temporal closures which are ad-hoc temporary closures that avoid areas with high juvenile catch rates or hot spots of overfished species.
The manual also includes case studies of several fisheries that have successfully reduced discards under new management. These case studies include the Danish Fisheries Traceability System; and the UK North Sea and English Channel Discard Pilot Projects, which have lowered their discard rates to 0% and 6% respectively.
Mercator Media Ltd 2015