A delegation of fishermen representing the EMK (Eendracht Maakt Kracht, Strength through Unity) group opposed to the discard ban have today present a petition to Elisa Roller, Director of DG Mare, the EU department responsible for implementing the landing obligation.
Also present were Alain Cadec, chairman of the Fisheries Committee of the European Parliament as the petition with its 23,000 signatures was presented following a demonstration that has been held from midday onwards today on the Schumann Square directly opposite the European Parliament with the full board of EMK taking part.
Fishermen have come from as far away as Den Helder to travel to Brussels to make plain their dissatisfaction with the landing obligation that they regard as an unworkable measure that has been imposed on them without proper consultation or a proper examination of its effects.
‘This measure is completely counter-productive and works against marine biodiversity,’ said Job Schott of EMK
‘It’s extremely expensive to have to sort the by-catch as there is no available space on fishing vessels to store the discards separately to the catch. It’s expensive to land this fish, and when it is landed there are no facilities ashore to handle this fish, which is a terrible waste. It’s completely wrong to do this,’ he said, adding that according to the research that has been done, there is no benefit to stocks in landing these discards.
‘This is an additional threat to us on top of the problems that Brexit is expected to cause, as well as wind farms and lost fishing grounds due to more closed areas. So we are calling on the European Parliament to bring this crazy law to an end,’ Job Schott said.
