Following extensive discussion with stakeholders, the North Sea Advisory Council (NSAC) has delivered its findings to DG MARE relating to the Landings Obligation and how it could be altered and managed.
The NSAC conclusion is that greater selectivity and a consequent reduction in fishing mortality could be more effectively achieved through free choice of fishing gear. According to NSAC, contrary to the existing restrictive rules, this would align with individual personal responsibility of the users/fishermen, resulting in a greater involvement of users, while, monitoring and control via Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) could be applied in exchange for more regulatory flexibility and/or the use of more selective fishing gear.
The advisory council also reommends promoting the role of fishermen in collecting and sharing information. Participation and co-management would be promoted if stakeholders could participate at an early stage. Partnerships between the fisheries sector and science are considered to be a good approach.
According to the advisory council, there is no economic or biological rationale for landing all undersized fish, and it recommends that a species-specific approach based on science should instead be adopted, and the council put forward the opinion that the authorities could do well to explore positive incentives such as free choice of fishing gear, options to sell undersized fish for consumption, incentives for CCTV-monitored vessels, exemption from most controls, granting data ownership to fishermen and efforts to incorporate real-time data into scientific advice.
The North Sea Advisory Council has also called for an impact assessment of the practicality and effectiveness of the landing obligation, and also asks how this can be evaluated within the current framework – putting forward the question of whether there is a baseline against which to measure the effectiveness of the landing obligation in achieving its objectives?
The NSAC’s recommendation is for a shift in focus from assessing compliance to evaluating the suitability of the Landings Obligation in achieving its purpose – and the same would need to be applied to any alternative measures.
‘From the very outset, we as a fisheries organisation have pointed out that the landing obligation in its current form is unworkable for the fishing fleet,’ commented Durk van Tuinen, who participated in the process with NSAC on behalf of Dutch industry bodies de Nederlandse Vissersbond and PO Delta Zuid.
‘We take every opportunity to discuss the landing obligation. This is a measure that is not right and is sometimes even counterproductive in encouraging more selective fishing. We are pleased to see the NSAC is making a contribution and are happy to participate in it.’
