FISHING INDUSTRY representatives say they have “no difficulty” with the European Commission’s ambition to end the practice of discarding unwanted fish.
However, the Federation of Irish Fishermen also says it believes EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki had engaged in a “publicity stunt” on the issue.
A plan announced this week by Ms Damanaki was “long on soundbite and short on substance”, federation chairman Seán O’Donoghue said last night.
Mr O’Donoghue said Ireland had already been lobbying at EU level for a number of years on practical measures to avoid catching unwanted fish, including use of larger mesh sizes in nets.
Irish South and West Fishermen’s Organisation chief executive Eibhlín O’Sullivan said the discarding practice was “immoral”, but it was a complex issue that required a phased approach.
Outgoing Minister for Fisheries Brendan Smith, who attended a meeting of European ministers in Brussels on reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, said he supported practical and appropriate measures to tackle the “wasteful practice of discarding fish at sea”. However, a blanket ban as indicated by Ms Damanaki could be counterproductive if it did not have industry support and was thus unworkable, he said.
“Tackling discards is one of the priorities in Ireland’s submission on the review of the CFP and in my opinion must be a fundamental cornerstone of the new policy.
“There is no disagreement between Ireland and the commissioner on the objective to reduce discards – the discussion is about the means to achieve this objective,” Mr Smith added, but it was important to recognise the different dynamics of individual fisheries and areas.
A series of measures would regulate catches within predefined limits, discourage fishing activity in specific areas and improve gear selectivity to allow young fish and unwanted catches to escape, he said.
Ms Damanaki said she had the support of North Sea coastal states Britain, Germany and Denmark and also France for her move, which would be phased in over several years. “I consider discarding of fish unethical, a waste of natural resources and a waste of fishermen’s effort, but I would like to go further. Since our stocks are declining, these figures are not justifiable any more,” she said.
Her plan includes introducing CCTV on fishing vessels, already subject to satellite surveillance, electronic logbooks and a plethora of bureaucratic procedures.
Fine Gael has supported a phased approach to eradicating discards and merging of responsibilities for marine spread across different departments.
