George Eustice, said there is a risk of “back-sliding” by Britain's European neighbours on the reforms introduced by the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and that care must be taken to ensure the changes are enforced effectively.
The re-written CFP has now been formally approved by the European Parliament and will come into force in January 2014.
But Mr Eustice considers the battle to reform the CFP is only half-won and that implementing the changes, some of which faced stiff resistance before they were agreed by European Union member states, will be just as hard.
Getting the reforms agreed meant, he said, that “one of the big hurdles” has been cleared but there is no certainty that Europe’s fishing nations will put them into practice.
Among the reforms are a ban on discarding more than five per cent of a catch back into the sea – current levels can be in excess of 40 per cent, with 1.3 million tonnes of fish being thrown back into the sea dead or dying each year in the North East Atlantic. The ban will be phased in from 2015. Other reforms include a legal requirement for quotas to be set at sustainable levels and a decentralisation of management powers.
“I think we’ve got a good settlement, but I’m under no illusions - there’s a lot of work to do to make sure there’s no back-sliding,” he told Fish2fork.
“We’ve got to make sure the rules are enforced in the other countries. We will have to hold the Commission’s feet to the fire to ensure there is compliance.
“There’s a lot of work to be done to get the discard ban working and to make sure regional decision-making really does work and is a success.
“I think all the right principles are there, but occasionally, as we are all aware, European policy can fall down in the detail.”
Among the details that have still to be decided are what happens to undersized fish that are landed once the discards ban comes in, and how much fishermen should be paid for them, if at all. It has yet to be determined which fish should be exceptions to the discards rule on the grounds that they are likely to survive being caught and tossed back. Enforcement will also be an issue.
Mr Eustice, who replaced Richard Benyon fisheries minister in October, is optimistic that the reforms, which he described as “transformative”, will bring huge benefits to Europe’s fisheries but he cautioned that there is a need “to make sure we aren’t the only country that is enthusiastic”.
He warned against any fear that the UK will follow the rules more closely than other European countries.
In the past, such as with rule changes to how abattoirs operate, there have been widespread claims that while the UK enforces the rules rigorously – so-called ‘gold-plated’ adherence to the regulations - other nations pay them only lip service.
“I’ve always felt the gold-plating allegations are exaggerated. Britain is one-third down the table. We aren’t the best, we aren’t the worst. We are somewhere in the middle,” he said.
Story courtesy of Fish2Fork.