UK Parliament debate on discards

European ministers have agreed that tackling fish discards "must be a priority" for Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform and that "action must be taken now", the UK Commons has been told.

The European Commission has set out ideas for ending the practice of dumping dead fish back into the sea due to lack of demand or because fishermen have used up their quota. At Commons question time on 17 March 2011, Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon said there had been "constructive and positive debate" in Europe about measures needed as part of CFP reform, which should be "practical, effective and developed in cooperation with the industry".

See the link below for recent footage from the UK Parliament on the EU discards issue: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9426000/9426529.stm

It certainly appears the the time for concrete action on discards has arrived and this wasteful and unsustainable practice will soon come to an end. However, it is important that fishermen and scientisits are a part of the solution, and that any measures from the EU do not increase pressure on allready stessed stocks  and issues such as bycatch are addressed.