Marine life – our common responsibility

Discard ban – a cornerstone of a

comprehensive policy packet

By Peter Gullestad

Director General of Fisheries, Norway

DGFISH and RAC’s study tour to Tromsø, 20 – 22 June 2007

Marine life – our common responsibility

Discard policy

EU : Prohibited to land ”illegal” fish

Norway : Prohibited to catch ”illegal” fish

Marine life – our common responsibility

Main elements of the Norwegian discard policy

•Ban on discard of commercial important species

•Requirement to change fishing ground

•Temporary closure of fishing grounds

•Special regulatory measures for certain fisheries

•Development of selective gear technology

Marine life – our common responsibility

Ban on discard of:

•Cod

•Haddock

•Saithe

•Redfish

•Greenland halibut

•Monkfish

•Whiting

•Blue whiting

•Herring

•Mackerel

•Capelin

•European smelt

•Shrimp

•Snow crab

Marine life – our common responsibility

Barents Sea Monitoring Program (I)

March/April 2005

Marine life – our common responsibility

October 2005

Barents Sea Monitoring Program (II)

Marine life – our common responsibility

Selective gear technology

Directorate of Fisheries Directorate of Fisheries

Flexigrid/codgrid monted in a net section

Marine life – our common responsibility

Examples of special measures

•The G6 regulation of mackerel

•Regulation of slipping in purse seine fisheries

•Bycatch of herring in the Norway pout fishery

•Mixed vessel quota of cod, haddock and saithe for coastal vessels

•Regulations to cover unavoidable bycathes

Marine life – our common responsibility

North Sea Cod – distribution of Norwegian national allocation

•First priority is to cover unavoidable bycatch in other fisheries to minimize discards

•Fleet-specific bycatch rules

•Necessary quantity to cover unavoidable bycatch needs is calculated annually

•Small coastal boats have a ”roof” on their annual individual catch

•The rest (if any) of the national allocation is distributed as individual quotas to a limited number of vessels (gillnetters and danish seiners) in a directed fishery

Marine life – our common responsibility

North East Arctic Cod

Marine life – our common responsibility

North East Arctic Cod

Marine life – our common responsibility

North East Arctic Cod

Marine life – our common responsibility

North East Arctic Cod

Marine life – our common responsibility

Unwanted fishing mortality

•Discard is part of the larger problem of unwanted mortality – here defined as all dead fish in excess of agreed quotas

•The practical management challenge is to examine each fishery with regard to all possible sources to unwanted mortality, and then try to reduce it to a minimum

•The unwanted mortality can be grouped in three categories according to where it occurs:

-In the water

-On board

-At landing

Marine life – our common responsibility

Unwanted fishing mortalityset up as an arithmetic problem (1)

Total mortality induced by fisheries

÷ Ghost fishing (Gill net)

÷ Escape mortality (Selection-/hauling mortality)

÷ Burst net (Seine, trawl)

÷ Slipping (Seine)

÷ ”Socking the snout” (Hand line/long line)

÷ Others?

= Catch taken on board

Marine life – our common responsibility

Catch taken on board

÷ Discard at sea:

- Undersized fish

- Highgrading

- Inferior quality

- Too large catch (fishing vs. processing or cargo capasity)

- Bycatch (lack of quota)

- Bycatch non commercial species

- Others?

÷ Discard after main catch is landed

- Fish deteriorated on board or otherwise failing to meet the buyer´s specifications

= Landed catch

Unwanted fishing mortalitycontinued (2)

Marine life – our common responsibility

Landed catch

÷ Black landings

÷ Falsified sales notes/landing declarations:

= Registered catch measured in product weight

multiplied with official conversion factor

= Catch in live weight as official recorded

Quantity declared is less than landed/price or grading to favourable

Incorrect product (too favourable conversion factor)

Incorrect catch area (wrong stock/quota)

Incorrect species (cod declared as haddock)

Incorrect time of catch/landing

Others?

Unwanted fishing mortalitycontinued (3)

Marine life – our common responsibility

Summing up

• No universal solution to the problem of unwanted mortality

• Discard ban part of the solution

• Monitoring and control at sea is necessary

• National quota allocation and bycatch rules play a role

• Flexibility and creativity needed when seeking solutions

• Sustainable fishing – increased R & D needed