If you’re not part of the fishing industry, you might not have heard much about discards.
However, you may have heard talk of fisherman throwing fish back into the ocean, after bringing up more than they are allowed to sell under their quotas.
Fish are also discarded because they are too small, and bringing them in would break minimum size laws designed to protect young fish. And sometimes they’re thrown back in because they are ‘unmarketable’ species, which would be difficult to sell to the public.
The UK government, along with celebrities such as Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and the campaign group Fish Fight, feel this is often a wasteful practice.
Our Defra policy teams have spent more than three years negotiating with the EU, and last year we successfully secured fundamental reforms to the Common Fisheries Policy.
A ‘Discard Ban’, covering ‘pellagic’ species such as mackerel, herring, sardines and anchovies was agreed, and it will come into force in January.
We’re thrilled with this result – and we’re also working hard to implement these reforms.
We need to make sure they are practical, and work effectively for our fishermen, so we’ve made detailed local plans, and we will soon be writing to everyone who will be affected, explaining what they need to do.
We’re confident our fleets won’t experience any difficulties, but we’ll continue to work closely with fisheries to help them adapt to the ban, providing assistance where it’s needed.
Our plans allow for a few scientifically justified exceptions, for example, we will allow a limited number of fish with a high chance of survival to be returned to the sea.
We’re also conducting research to identify uses for some fish, like bait, which were previously discarded. This could be much less wasteful.
We're confident the ban and these actions will ensure that our fishermen are prosperous, there is plenty of fish to eat, and that our marine environment stays healthy.
2 comments
Comment by jerry archer posted on
What will happen to any discards that are landed and are unmarketable will they go to landfill sites
Comment by Eloise Munday posted on
Hi Jerry, there are a number of potential markets for unwanted fish that does not go for direct human consumption. These uses include, but are not limited to, fishmeal, pet food, bait, fish oil and food additives. We hope this answers your question.