The WWF charity is urging all Member States to enforce strict rules on fish that are needlessly caught and thrown overboard, after scientific advice in the North Sea showed a 5% increase in the amount of spawning cod. This may be good news in the short term, but an inconsistent approach by EU Member States to discards can still threaten the long term future of North sea fish stocks.
Though the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) has show the number of spawning cod is increasing slightly, last year’s total catches were again much higher than the agreed fishing quotas. With discard levels almost equal to the number of fish landed in the last 3 years, showing that twice as many fish were taken from the sea than recommended by scientists.
Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF, Louize Hill, says –
It is encouraging to see that there is a glimmer of hope for North Sea cod. However, stocks are still at precariously low levels and it is only by clamping down on discards that Governments and the fishing industry can ensure cod stocks are given a fighting chance for recovery.Countries such as Scotland and Norway are already taking strong action to tackle discards. It’s time the rest of Europe followed suit.There are undoubtedly a number of positive steps being taken around Europe to tackle discards, and ensure a long-term future for fisheries, but a far greater culture shift is needed to restore fish stock levels to their former abundance. The upcoming reform of the Common Fisheries Policy is a once in a decade opportunity to ensure that this forward thinking is adopted by all Member States.
The EU has agreed to reduce the number of fish discarded by banning ‘high-grading’ – where marketable sized fish are discarded as they would fetch a lower sales price. The practice of using large mesh nets has also had a positive reduction in the amount of non-targeted fish being caught, though the fishing industry as a whole has been slow in the implementation of the new selective fishing equipment.
