A case study review of the potential impact of proposed CFP discard reform. Poseidon report to Seafish UK, 2013

Summary

The reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) introduces a landing obligation to eliminate discarding. The objective of this research, was to determine the potential economic implications of this discards ban on selected case study UK fleets through establishing a) how would the landing obligation affect fleet economic performance, b) at fleet level, and given current discards, what would the quota requirements amount to, and c) identify any ‘choke’ species that could limit operations of the fleet. The report highlights two key aspects of the landings obligation: the restricting effect of so-called “choke” species, and a lack of clarity surrounding the permitted flexibilities contained within the legislation. The results confirm what we already thought: much work remains to be done in order to ensure that we have a fishing fleet which operates sustainably, profitably and in line with the recently agreed landings obligation.

Publication date

01 January 2014