Malta opposes plans for fish discard ban

As per current practice, fishing fleets are permitted to indiscriminately dump back into the sea any specimen of fish, caught while targeting other species, which are considered less commercially lucrative.

Campaigners against this wasteful practice argue that as many as two thirds of the healthy fish caught by EU fishing fleets are routinely discarded in this way.

This accounts for roughly half of all fish caught in the North Sea; and while there are no reliable statistics covering all Mediterranean fisheries, the proportion is also understood to be high.

After years of campaigning for a ban on this practice - among others, by celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal - the issue has finally been brought to the attention of EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki: who proposed to ban the practice as part of the ongoing Common Fisheries Policy reform.

However, in a move that is likely to infuriate conservationists and effectively thwart Damanaki's efforts to regulate this aspect of the European fishing industry, EU fishing States, including Malta, have formed a unified front against the proposed ban.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Rural Affairs yesterday confirmed Malta's support for the initiative, pointing out how Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had hinted at his government's opposition to the ban as long ago as March of last year.

At the beginning of that month, Pullicino had stated that while, in principle, there was agreement to work to eliminate discards, the European Commission "had to keep in mind the socio-economic impact of any proposed measure as well as differences between the circumstances in different Member States and between industrial and traditional fisheries".

Echoing widespread concerns among European fisheries ministries, Pullicino argued that his government opposed the ban to safeguard traditional/artisanal fisheries such as Malta's long-line swordfish industry, among others.

"If the proposed measures were to be put in place across the board, they would disproportionately impact traditional fishers who produce minimal discards," he said.

Pullicino added that the idea of quantifying by-catch against a quota had already been adopted in Malta as a measure to significantly reduce Blue Fin Tuna discards during the swordfish fishery. 

However, conservationists generally retort that maintaining the status quo would only play into the hands of mercenary fisheries, which - unlike their traditional counterparts - are only interested in maximising profits with little regard for the long-term sustainability of the industry as a whole. As a result, they argue, not only will the long-term survival of endangered species such as Blue Fin Tuna and swordfish be further jeopardised, but ironically, so will the livelihoods of the same traditional fishermen.

Text of Joint Declaration against banning discards that was presented to the Commission on Monday

1. Reiterate their commitment to the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources and to the preservation of a European fisheries sector in all its diversity

2. Note the variety of fishing practices and management methods within the European Union which must be preserved and properly taken into account

3. Restate their commitment to an ambitious reform of the common fisheries policy, based on the principle of sustainable development and aiming at the maximum sustainable yield in the framework of ecosystem-based fisheries management

4. Reiterate their view that the wasteful practice of discarding fish, that is tolerated and in some cases even promoted by the current structure of the management system, constitutes a considerable obstacle on the road to a sustainable fisheries policy

5. Consider that a discard ban as proposed in the draft basic regulation of the future CFP is unrealistic and too prescriptive, and that a pragmatic approach is needed especially in the context of mixed fisheries, particularly in the Mediterranean

6. Support instead the inclusion in the basic regulation of the ambitious objective of a significant reduction of discards

7. Consider that this objective should be pursued on a fisheries-based approach, in the framework of the multiannual plans, on the basis of a thorough impact assessment examining for each fishery the causes of discards and assessing the environmental, economic and social impact of the measures foreseen to reduce unwanted catches.