16 April 2013: The European Union (EU) Parliament voted to adopt a ban on discarding unwanted fish caught in the Skagerrak, a strait connecting the Baltic and the North Seas. The ban, which will be implemented between 2014 and 2016, requires all fishing vessels to land all caught fish, regardless of fish size or species.

The ban aims to end the practice of “discards,” or throwing fish back into the sea because they are unwanted, a practice that aggravates overfishing, according to the EU.

EU member states will be required to enforce the ban through a remote electronic monitoring system that will equip boats over twelve meters long with Global Positioning Devices (GPS), closed circuit TV and transmitting equipment. The ban will apply to all EU member states with fishing rights in the Skagerrak, including Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

Experience in implementing this ban may help to inform future EU discard bans. According to the EU, the EU Parliament considered a plan to ban discards in all EU waters during a discussion on the Common Fisheries Policy in February 2013. Under the proposal, the ban would be implemented gradually, covering pelagic species in 2014, valuable demersal species in 2015 and other species in 2016. [EU Press Release] [Common Fisheries Policy and the Discard Ban]