Mission impossible: Discard management plans for the EU Mediterranean fisheries under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy

Abstract

The landings obligation (or ‘discard ban’) included in the new EU Common Fisheries Policy prohibits the discarding of species subject to catch limits and those subject to minimum size limits in the Mediterranean Sea. However, some exemptions may apply, and to this end a discards management plan is required. Based on the recent joint recommendations for discard management plans in the Mediterranean, it was identified that in order to compile an eligible future discard management plan for the Mediterranean fisheries and apply for any exemption, a series of steps will have to be taken towards defining a legal framework under which Mediterranean fisheries can be assessed for their performance. The current system seems inadequate to document actual catches, urges to be updated and above all disqualifies Mediterranean fisheries from been granted any eligible discard management plan. The current long-standing legislative framework, tailored to deal with the ‘peculiarities’ of Mediterranean fisheries by establishing an effort-based management scheme, has now become an immovable obstacle towards dealing with unwanted catches. Mediterranean stakeholders will have to decide if it is worth moving from an effort-based to a catch-based management system, or if the benefits realized by the former would be difficult to be counterbalanced under any other system.