Europêche calls for landing obligation reform

Europêche has presented a proposal to revise the European Union’s Landing Obligation, urging changes to make fisheries policy more effective, proportionate and workable.

Introduced more than a decade ago, the obligation requires unwanted catches to be landed rather than discarded. However, Europêche argues that practical experience has exposed significant problems, particularly in complex mixed fisheries where unavoidable by-catches can create ‘choke’ situations and force vessels to stop fishing despite having quota available for their main target species.

“The Landing Obligation shows why targeted legislative changes are necessary,” said Javier Garat, president of Europêche. He said the framework remained unworkable in many fisheries despite sustained efforts by fishers, scientists and authorities, adding that shortcomings had contributed to unfair portrayals of fishers and sanctions.

Europêche said technological advances and more selective fishing gear could reduce unwanted catches but could not eliminate every difficulty. Biological interactions and the complexity of the EU quota system mean that even sophisticated control and monitoring systems have limitations.

The organisation’s proposal comes as political pressure for reform grows. The European Parliament has called for the Common Fisheries Policy to evolve and for weaknesses in implementation of the Landing Obligation to be addressed.

“The fishing sector is proactively developing science-based solutions to address the legal and operational shortcomings of the Landing Obligation,” Garat said. He added that Europêche wanted to help establish a system that reduced unwanted catches while remaining proportionate and practical at sea.

The proposed approach would focus regulatory requirements where they are most relevant and scientifically justified. It would also give greater recognition to fully documented fishing practices, increase flexibility in managing mixed fisheries and choke situations, and simplify rules.