The political agreement reached still has to be formally approved in the complex process of CFP reform, and while the detail of the measures contained in the new consolidated text is still unclear, it does seem apparent that there is no change on the discards policy as agreed by the Council on 15 May and that the sustainability targets to be reached by 2020 also still appear to be intact.
However, according to Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the SFF, it is vital that the detail in the measures is implemented in a practical manner that recognises the complex and difficult environment that fishermen operate in.
“The final agreement once reached needs to ensure that political decision-making on achieving conservation targets and reducing discards are not implemented in such a way that it ends up wrecking the fishing industry. The devil will be very much in the detail of the new consolidated text but the final regulation must be practical so that it can realistically work for the fishing fleet.
“Fishing provides a crucial renewable food resource for the world population that supports much employment in economically fragile coastal communities, so it is vital that measures to protect our fishermen are at the very heart of the new CFP.”
