EU discards ban will change the way we fish our seas

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/13/eu-discards-ban-fish-seas

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The reforms agreed this week to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are a significant milestone, but the work to make fishing truly sustainable is far from done.

The ban on discards – the shameful practice of throwing perfectly good fish away due to quotas – is a major milestone, as is the end of the current centralised one-size-fits-all approach to decision making.

This deal is the result of more than three years of difficult negotiations, in which the UK took the lead to secure some significant reforms of what has been long seen as a fundamentally flawed CFP. My predecessor, Richard Benyon, deserves a great deal of credit for this achievement, as his perseverance during the long nights and difficult negotiations in Europe helped ensure the CFP vote passed this week.

Throughout the negotiations the government fought for a commitment to firm dates to ban discards. Now that the reformed CFP has passed its final vote a ban on discarding in ‘pelagic’ fisheries (such as mackerel and herring) will take effect on 1 January 2015 with a further ban on discards in other fisheries starting from 1 Jan 2016.

Throwing away fish will no longer be tolerated. The ban on discards is a vital accomplishment which will transform the way we fish our seas and help us continue to fish sustainably for decades to come.

The reformed CFP will also allow countries to work together on measures appropriate to their own fisheries, rather than being subject to ineffective micro-management from Brussels. This process, known as ‘regionalisation’, has been a top negotiating priority for the UK government. We built support across a wide range of countries for reforms to replace the over-centralised system that hindered progress in our fisheries.

The vote also secures, for the first time, a legally binding commitment to fishing at sustainable levels. This will ensure annual quotas will be underpinned by scientific advice, to achieve healthy fish stocks and a prosperous fishing industry. Both the legal commitment to fishing sustainably and the new regional management of countries’ fisheries will come into force from 1 January 2014.

Although this vote marks is a major step forward our work is not finished. We will continue to work with fishermen to help them adjust to the new reforms so that the transition is as smooth as possible.

Next week I will be representing the UK at the annual fishing quota negotiations in Brussels. Our priorities for a number of stocks at these negotiations will be strongly influenced by the forthcoming legal commitment to fish sustainably, as well as ending wasteful discarding. Here I will continue to ensure the UK leads the way in supporting environmentally and economically sustainable fisheries, in line with the reforms to the CFP we have achieved.

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