Mixed reactions in UK to EU fisheries reform

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The UK fishing industry is split over the EU's blueprint for its future fisheries policy, after long-awaited proposals on the Common Fisheries Policy were unveiled earlier this week.

 

A central tenet of the proposed reforms is the EC's commitment to ending discards. The controversial practice of throwing out-of-quota and non-marketable fish back into the sea was highlighted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in Hugh's Fish Fight earlier this year.

 

Fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki has supported the idea of ending the practice for some time, but her presentation of the CFP proposals on Wednesday marked the first concrete commitment from the EC.

 

The Scottish Fishermen's Federation said some elements of the reforms were a step in the right direction, but that other aspects were worrying. "Scottish fishermen abhor discarding, but in the complex mixed fisheries our fleet operates in, it is totally impracticable to ban discards altogether," the SFF said.

 

Proposals for greater decentralisation were welcomed by UK industry body Seafish, which said the move would give individual fisheries more control. However, it warned, there was no 'one size fits all' solution, especially for UK mixed fisheries. "We urge the EU to adopt a risk-based approach," a spokesman said.

 

Fearnley-Whittingstall, who has been pushing for an all-out ban on discards, said there was still a long way to go before the proposed rules became law: "There are still 18 months of arguments and discussion in the European Parliament that could change everything."

 

Concerns have been raised that the CFP reforms would add cost into the supply chain, but Damanaki insisted to The Grocer that costs would actually fall. She added that she recognised supermarkets were already doing their bit to end discards by "offering consumers sustainable fish".

 

The Commission hopes the proposals will be in force by 1 January 2013.

.thegrocer.co.uk