Onboard and Vessel Layout Modifications

Jónas R Viðarsson,Sigurður Örn Ragnarsson,Erling P Larsen,Marvin I Einarsson,Julio Valeiras

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03308-8_16

Jónas R Viðarsson, Sigurður Örn Ragnarsson + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03308-8_16

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss challenges that the EU Landing Obligation presents to the onboard handling of unwanted catches and how vessel layout modifications can be applied to meet these challenges. The key challenge the industry is facing is having to bring ashore catches of little or no value, which requires significant effort to handle and takes up valuable space that is, in many cases, not available. Considering that 85% of EU fishing vessels are under 12 metres long and 97% are under 24 metres, it is evident that the majority of the EU fleet has limited options when it comes to handling and stowage of catches that would have been discarded prior to the implementation of the Landing Obligation. The Landing Obligation only applies to species subject to catch limits, which means that the current set-up on vessels can, for the most part, accommodate the fish of legal size that needs to be landed. The main challenge is catches of undersized fish that are not permitted to be used for direct human consumption. For those catches, the simplest approach is to handle them as targeted catch, which will allow them to be used for higher-value products such as pet food, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, etc. This is, however, not applicable for the majority of the fleet, due to a lack of space and the labour effort required. Solutions such as bulk storage and simple silage preservation are alternatives that are being explored for smaller vessels. The larger vessels have more options, such as full silage production, fish protein hydrolysate and fish meal production.

Highlights

Unwanted catches (UWC), such as low-value bycatches, undersized fish, catches exceeding quotas and catches of target species that are unlikely to attain premium prices are thrown back, and much of these catches are dead or dying. This has been the practice in European fisheries under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union (EU)
The first fisheries were subject to this Landing Obligation in the beginning of 2015, and by 2019, all EU fisheries are required to land the entire catch of all species subject to catch limits
The available alternatives for addressing that challenge are scarce and are generally only applicable for larger vessels – but 85% of the EU fleet are under 12 metres long and 97% are under 24 metres (EU 2016), which severely reduces available solutions

Summary

16.1 Introduction

Discards have been a part of fishing practices in most fisheries around the world since fisheries began. Unwanted catches (UWC), such as low-value bycatches, undersized fish, catches exceeding quotas and catches of target species that are unlikely to attain premium prices are thrown back, and much of these catches are dead or dying. This has been the practice in European fisheries under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) of the European Union (EU). European fishers have annually discarded more than 1.5 million tons of fish in order to maximise the value of their catch and to meet with regulations (EC 2011) This practice has been the subject of increasing levels of debate (Borges and Penas Lado, this volume). The purpose of this chapter is to discuss challenges that the Landing Obligation presents to the onboard handling of unwanted catches and how vessel layout modifications can be applied to meet with these challenges

16.2 Challenges

16.2.1 Small Coastal Vessels

16.2.2 Small- and Intermediate-Sized Vessels

16.2.3 Larger Fresh Fish and Factory Vessels

Findings

16.3 Discussion