Spain and France warned to get their fishing legislation in order

The EU has warned Spain and France that they are not doing enough to stop the wasteful practice of discarding fish.

Known as the landing obligation, the obligation was introduced during the last reform of the common fisheries policy in 2013 to end the wasteful and unsustainable practice of discarding, when unwanted catches are returned to the sea.

Spain and France are also accused of failing to ensure the control and enforcement of the obligation that all catches of species subject to catch limits and, in the Mediterranean, species subject to minimum sizes, are brought and retained on board fishing vessels and then recorded, landed and counted against quotas, where applicable.

“Effective control and enforcement of fishing activities at sea and the accurate recording of catches and discarded quantities are essential for the implementation of the landing obligation and for supporting the long-term sustainability objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy. It is also important in order to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing,” the EU said on September 23.

Spain and France have two months to address the shortcomings.

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