The European Union can change the rules of the game Fishing society. Countries like Spain or France are currently spearheading a proposal to change the way catches are reported. To make it more similar to the Baltic regulations. This offer assumes lower current requirementscan cause a rebound effect: Encouraging overfishing of endangered species.
This is detailed in a confidential document from the European Union to which ‘The Guardian’ has access, warning that these laxer rules can be detrimental to both the marine environment and fisheries control. can “challenge” the reality of imposing fishing quotas.
Mackerel, Atlantic herring, tuna or sprat are the most fished species in Europe and therefore will be most affected by this regulatory change, which applies to all vessels sailing in EU waters.
The problem with this recommendation comes from a minor change in the way captures are saved. This indicator controls overfishing by providing fishermen with a margin of tolerance of up to 10% between the catches declared in the logbook and the amount reported after landing. But, this offer wants to widen this margin and make 10% of the boat’s total catch.
Experts believe this will create a “legal vacuum” that, as the European Commission has pointed out, will remove sanctions against boats that make false predictions about the fish caught, especially those that are endangered. According to the same document, The gap to be created “promotes covert overfishing and calls into question the usefulness of fisheries protection measures such as quotas” because they are “easily circumvented without consequences.”
This document, circulated to European parliamentarians in February, also states that “misreporting of catches heralds unsustainable fisheries, and that over time, risks leading to depletion of fish stocks and damage to the marine ecosystem,” adds The Guardian.
baltic experience
Moreover, the European Union has already been able to confirm that this change in regulations is harmful in the Baltic. According to preliminary reports of an audit carried out by Member States, The Baltic presented erroneous data, which was “encouraged” by this exception and accompanied by overfishing.
In the records of one of the member states, for example sprat, it is not reported in 78% of catches, although it is a species protected by quotas. Meanwhile, non-quota species clusters were reported to be 819% higher. In another country, the average underreporting of herring and sprat was 36% and 63%, respectively.
Based on these data, the International Marine Exploration Council (ICES) committee, which provides scientific advice to the EU on catch limits, He called for precautionary quotas to protect sprat stocks in the Baltic.
According to ICES consultant Massimiliano Cardinale, applying the margin of tolerance to total catches puts smaller fish stocks at risk. “If you catch two stocks with very different biomass that have a total tolerance to overfishing of 10%, the risk of overfishing the smaller stock is much higher,” he said. “It’s just an obvious result.”
Among the most threatened populations are yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean, which will collapse by 2026 if overfishing continues. European fishing boats take about a third of the tuna in the ocean. To do this, they use a method called purse seine netting, which uses nets about two kilometers long and 200 meters deep, which due to their characteristics also catch other species such as sea turtles, sharks and stingrays, according to the Global Danube Alliance. . In this sense, young tuna catches, which represent 63% to 71% of the catches caught by this purse seine method by the EU fleet, come to the fore.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]
Source: Informacion
James Sean is a writer for “Social Bites”. He covers a wide range of topics, bringing the latest news and developments to his readers. With a keen sense of what’s important and a passion for writing, James delivers unique and insightful articles that keep his readers informed and engaged.