A Review of the European Union Landing Obligation Focusing on Its Implications for Fisheries and the Environment

Jordi Guillen, Steven J. Holmes, Natacha Carvalho, John Casey, Hendrik Dörner, Maurizio Gibin, Alessandro Mannini, Paraskevas Vasilakopoulos and Antonella Zanzi
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Jordi Guillen: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Steven J. Holmes: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Natacha Carvalho: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
John Casey: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Hendrik Dörner: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Maurizio Gibin: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Alessandro Mannini: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Paraskevas Vasilakopoulos: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Antonella Zanzi: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit D.02 Water and Marine Resources, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Discarding is a common practice in fisheries. Total discards are estimated to be about 30 million tons, representing around 23% of worldwide catches. Discarding is an undesirable practice, not only because of the waste of resources, but also because of its contribution to the overexploitation of fish stocks. Several countries have already established discard bans, to different extents (e.g., Norway, Iceland, Chile, New Zealand). The EU’s landing obligation (discard ban) is a major measure of the latest reform of the Common Fisheries Policy for EU fisheries. It aims to reduce unwanted catches in EU fisheries, by incentivizing improved selectivity and restoring fish stocks to levels that can sustain the maximum production over time without harming the biodiversity and the capacity of future generations to obtain fish. However, banning discards will inevitably induce diverse short- and long-term ecological, economic, and social impacts, which may determine whether the landing obligation’s objectives will be achieved.

Keywords: landing obligation; discards; discard ban; survival rate; MSY; undersized fish; minimum landing size; minimum conservation reference size; Common Fisheries Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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