ZERO discards?

http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/18662

http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/18662

Cheers Jim, I read that article but I couldn't seem to find any indication of how they actually reduced the discards, did you? Anyway, sounds hopefull, fingers crossed some good comes out of it

If zero discards ever becomes EU CFP, then Ireland's Bass conservation laws are in trouble. Forcing commercial fishers to land Bass bycatch gives them an excuse to actually fish for Bass. We should start thinking now about lobbying for a derogation.

If zero discards ever becomes EU CFP, then Ireland's Bass conservation laws are in trouble. Forcing commercial fishers to land Bass bycatch gives them an excuse to actually fish for Bass. We should start thinking now about lobbying for a derogation.

Hi Tanglerat,
It currently looks very unlikely that there will be a complete ban on discards. I have been following progress on this issue closely and asreement by member states is not going to happen. As was the case for the last CFP reform, policy will be decided by the commercial sector and the fishery ministers who feel they must do all they can to keep them happy. Commercial fishermen never wanted a ban on all discards. All they ever wanted was to land the valuable ones and dump the rest. While the livelyhoods of commercial fishermen come before protecting the commonly owned resourse things will only get worse.