The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) has the ambition of assisting Member States and the European Commission to develop simple and cost efficient methods for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the obligation to land all catches.
A project to improve the accurate recording of discards in context of the JDPs is being launched with the following objectives:
- To promote and evaluate compliance with the requirements of recording in the fishing logbook all estimated discards above 50 kg of live-weight for any species as set out in article 14.4 of the Regunaltion (EC) No 1224/2011, by means of a coordinated programme of inspections of fishing vessels.
- To identify the gaps in the information (estimates of discards observed, discard official data) and to permit compilation of data to be used to develop the risk management strategy and risk analysis tools in the context of the landing obligation.
- To provide inspectors with a tool-box to identify where discards are expected in a determined fishery.
The project initial duration is from March 2014 to December 2015 and would be initiated in the Baltic Sea, Western Waters pelagic and Mediterranean Sea (Adriatic) JDP areas. In order to meet the abovementioned objectives, the project is organised into three main tasks:
- Preparation of a discard frequency matrix, based on estimated and official recorded level of discards
- Raise awareness of industry regarding the mandatory record of discards in the logbook
- Collection and statistical analysis of the “last haul” information (catch composition / estimated discards)