Provision of advice on the management of discards in EU fisheries beyond EU waters : phase I : final report

The purpose of this Specific Contract was to provide the Commission with an overview of the existing international obligations regarding the management of discards within select Regional Fisheries Management Organisations or Agreements (RFMOs) and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) beyond EU waters, and to identify to what extent such international obligations are aligned or are inconsistent with Article 15 (hereafter the EU landing obligation) of the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) regulation, based on all phased and final provisions to be implemented by 2019. A review of RFMO management measures and SFPA protocols identified a diverse range of binding and non-binding management obligations relevant to discarding within RFMOs and SFPAs. The majority of management measures relevant to the practice of discarding were in place as a means to achieve an alternative objective (e.g. long term management plans, TAC management etc.). Amongst the following RFMOs and SFPAs reviewed for this study: Tuna RFMOs: CCSBT, IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, WCPFC; Non-tuna RFMOs: CCAMLR, CECAF, NAFO, NEAFC, SEAFO, SIOFA, SPRFMO; SFPAs: Greenland, Mauritania, Morocco six RFMO measures (three ICCAT Recommendations and three NAFO Conservation and Enforcement measures) have the potential to lead to fishing activities inconsistent with the EU landing obligation in these regulatory areas. As a result, a total of 28 EU métiers currently active within NAFO, ICCAT and areas of NEAFC which overlap with the ICCAT area will be impacted to varying degrees by a requirement to land catches other international vessels can discard. For many of these métiers, information available on the extent of discards of species subject to the EU landing obligation is limited. It has therefore been difficult to establish the extent to which EU metiers will be impacted by identified potential inconsistencies with the EU landing obligation.