{"id":21701,"date":"2025-03-10T10:51:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeplatform.eu\/?p=21701"},"modified":"2025-03-10T10:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:51:12","slug":"new-fisheries-rule-creates-loophole-that-undermines-control-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeplatform.eu\/ma\/new-fisheries-rule-creates-loophole-that-undermines-control-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"New Fisheries Rule Creates Loophole That Undermines Control Regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Commission\u2019s <\/span>Control Regulation<\/span><\/i> of 22 November 2023<\/span><\/a> is intended to tighten fisheries management by enforcing stricter catch reporting. To this end, Article 14, dealing with fishing logbook completion, encourages selectivity by including a <\/span>Margin of Tolerance<\/span><\/i> rule, requiring vessels to report catches accurately within <\/span>10% per species<\/b>. Previously, the <\/span>Margin of Tolerance<\/span><\/i>\u2014the allowed discrepancy between reported and actual catch\u2014was calculated as a percentage of the <\/span>total catch<\/b>. This meant that as long as the overall weight was close to reality, species-specific errors were tolerated.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 24 May 2024, the Commission adopted an <\/span>Implementing Act<\/span><\/i>, without consulting Advisory Councils, that provides<\/span> \u201ca derogation from the existing margin of tolerance that may be granted for unsorted landings from small pelagic fisheries, industrial fisheries, and tropical tuna purse seine fisheries\u201d\u00a0 in certain designated <\/b>Listed Ports<\/i><\/b>,<\/b> thus weakening the rule and raising serious concerns about misreporting, fairness, compliance, and the potential for overfishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Loophole: Exemptions for Listed Ports<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite the stricter selectivity rule established in the <\/span>Control Regulation<\/span><\/i>, through the <\/span>Implementing Act<\/span><\/i><\/a> vessels landing at specially designated <\/span>Listed Ports<\/span><\/i> will receive a derogation, without any additional measures to ensure accurate species-level reporting. According to DG Mare, nine applications for <\/span>Listed Port<\/span><\/i> status have been submitted by Member States, but the locations remain unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n

This exemption disproportionately benefits large vessels landing high-volume, low-value catches\u2014particularly those in the fishmeal sector\u2014allowing them to bypass stricter reporting requirements. This unfair system places other segments of the fleet at a competitive disadvantage and raises serious concerns about transparency and sustainability, highlighting the need for a level playing field in the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Repeat of the Landing Obligation Failure?<\/b><\/p>\n

The situation bears striking similarities to the failed implementation of the <\/span>Landing Obligation<\/span><\/i> (LO), which was meant to eliminate the discarding of unwanted fish at sea. To encourage compliance, quotas were increased based on the assumption that all fish would be landed. However, in reality, enforcement was weak, and many vessels continued discarding fish, leading to artificially inflated quotas and worsening fish stock depletion.<\/span><\/p>\n

A similar dynamic is at play with the new <\/span>Margin of Tolerance<\/span><\/i> rule. While the Commission assumes that <\/span>Listed Ports<\/span><\/i> will uphold a \u201cgold standard\u201d of monitoring\u2014possibly through CCTV and other measures\u2014there is little evidence to suggest this will be enforced effectively. Instead, the exemption will allow misreporting to continue unchecked.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Call for Transparency and Accountability<\/b><\/p>\n

The lack of transparency surrounding the <\/span>Listed Ports<\/span><\/i> exemption raises major concerns. Why are certain ports granted this status? What monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure compliance? There are already considerable differences in sampling plans between Member States and without additional safeguards, this exemption threatens to undermine the very purpose of the new regulation, allowing industrial-scale operations to exploit the system while other fishers are left operating under stricter rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Commission is serious about improving fisheries control, it must address these inconsistencies. That means:<\/span><\/p>\n