The unintended impact of not enforcing the ban on fish discards
A new paper, The Unintended Impact Of The European Discard Ban by Dr Lisa Borges has found that an increase in fishing quotas of up to 50% was applied to account for the implementation of the Landing Obligation (LO) in EU waters in 2020, despite no enforcement of the LO and no decrease in discards. This discrepancy is likely to lead to a widespread unmeasured increase in the number of fish killed each year, which undermines the accuracy of scientific data, the ability of scientists to give reliable advice for fishing limits, and the ability of governments to make appropriate fisheries management decisions, and therefore lead to what the paper’s author describes as an “implosion of the EU fisheries management system”. This briefing elaborates on what the paper means for the health of the ocean and for EU fisheries management.
Briefing presentation – introduction by Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard
Presentation by Dr Lisa Borges: The unintended impact of the European discard ban