DENMARK
Discard ban will only work if accepted by fishers
Responsibility back to the fishermen….. Although the Danish fishing sector is well prepared for the challenges arising from the reform of the EU Common Fisheries Policy, there is a widespread concern in the sector about how the discard ban will be implemented in the coming years.
Discard ban implementation a major challenge With the reform of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy the major challenge for the fishing sector will be the introduction of the discard ban and full documentation. There will also be an everincreasing pressure to reduce the possible negative impacts of the fisheries on the eco-system. It is hard not to be pessimistic about the future of the fishing sector. That said, Danish fisheries have for a long time been mentally prepared for the coming discard ban, due, not least, to the fact that a large majority in the Danish 42
Eurofish Magazine 5 / 2013
Mogens Schou
I
t is hard to be a fisher and it will only get harder in the coming years. That is the widespread belief in the Danish fishing sector. Fishing is under pressure from many sides - poor sales prices and financing conditions as a result of the financial crisis and the subsequent economic slowdown in Europe; lots of bureaucracy due not least to the EU regulations on control of fisheries; and more and more restrictions on fishing, partly because of growing competition for exploitation of the sea and partly because of environmental concerns, such as the establishment of Natura 2000 sites.
It is hard to be a fisher and it will only get harder in the coming years, is the widespread belief in the Danish fishing sector.
Parliament announced full support for it at an early stage. Therefore, from a Danish perspective, the major challenge in the coming years will be how the discard ban is introduced in each fishery - not just in respect of the fisheries, but also in respect of the ports and communities, where fishing is one of the backbones of the economy. It is a precondition for dynamic, profitable and sustainable fisheries, that the discard ban is implemented gradually. From the viewpoint of the fishermen it is essential that the decision-making process is at least partly regionalised. Many rules - not least the detailed implementation rules - must be defined at a regional level and not in a burdensome decision-making process in the EU system. A discard ban will only work if the industry accepts
it – and gets responsibility for the fisheries policy – and that requires an adaptive, flexible and pragmatic approach to the implementation of the discard ban. When implementing a discard ban fisheries regulations should be simple, conclusive and transparent. It must be easy for the fisherman to understand, for example, what part of the catches must be landed; how the catch should be stored and handled on board fishing vessels; and how unavoidable catches should be dealt with. The great danger with the introduction of a discard ban with full documentation is that new rules on control together with bureaucracy could easily destroy the economy of fishing, creating a situation where fishing gets stuck and fishermen disembark.
Skagerrak is a testing ground for the discard ban Alongside the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, the EU and Norway over the last few years have jointly been working on the introduction of a discard ban for commercial species in the Skagerrak. Skagerrak is an important fishing ground for Danish fishermen and the process has therefore been closely monitored by the fishing industry. Fishermen in Norway, Denmark and Sweden have been directly involved and consulted in this process and there has been a constructive collaboration between the authorities and the fisheries on the project. Originally, it was agreed that a discard ban for 15 commercial stocks should enter into force on 1 January 2013. This happened in the Norwegian waters www.eurofishmagazine.com