Ref. Ares(2018)4180323 - 09/08/2018
Ref. Ares(2019)2387732 - 04/04/2019
> P.O. Box 20401 2500 EK The Hague The Netherlands
Directorate-General Agro and
Nature
Hélene Clark
Department of European
Director
Agricultural and Fisheries
DG MARE
Policies and Food Security
European Commission
Visit address
B-1049 BRUSSELS
Bezuidenhoutseweg 73
2594 AC Den Haag
The Netherlands
Postal address P.O. Box 20401
2500 EK Den Haag
The Netherlands
Organisation Code
00000001003214369000
Date
9 August 2018
T +31 (0)70 379 8911
F +31 (0)70 378 6100
Re
Revised Joint Recommendation for a 2019 Discard Plan for demersal
www.rijksoverheid.nl/lnv
fisheries in the North Western Waters
Dealt with by
Dear Mrs. Clark,
T
On behalf of the North Western Waters High Level Group, currently chaired by
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The Netherlands, I am sending you the revised Joint Recommendation for a
DGAN-ELVV / 18205892
discard plan for demersal fisheries in the North Western Waters as from 1
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January 2019.
The revision has been undertaken in the light of the comments your services
Encl.
have made in the Commission letter of 24 July 2018 (Ares(2018)3916726 –
13
24/07/2018) on the initial Joint Recommendation transmitted to the European
Commission on 31 May 2018, by the Irish chair.
The North Western Waters group has done its utmost to accommodate the
observations of the Commission while still taking into account the specificities of
the fisheries concerned.
Given the tight deadline and the fact that it took place during the summer holiday
period the revision process was challenging and not optimal. The North Western
Waters Group would propose to evaluate this process with you in the upcoming
High Level Group, to avoid a similar situation in the future.
With this letter you will find the revised Joint Recommendation together with the
relevant annexes. As there were no alternatives for the exemptions that were
rejected in the Commission letter mentioned, in several cases the North Western
Waters Group chose to modify the exemptions as much as possible in line with the
Commission’s comments and the advice from STECF.
In addition to this the North Western Waters Group seeks clarity from the
Commission on the following de minimis proposals, that were rejected:
• Whiting: STECF has identified that the requested de minimis alone would
not resolve the discard issue for whiting in the Irish Sea and further
selectivity is needed. This was acknowledged in our submission. DAERA
(Northern Ireland) remain committed to reducing further unwanted
catches of whiting and have already in place a substantial programme of
gear trials and subsequent roll out of improved gears. DAERA have
recently updated the Commission on the extensive selectivity work
undertaken since 2013 to present and the planned trials in the coming
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Directorate-General Agro
and Nature
Department of European
Agricultural and Fisheries
Policies and Food Security
Our ref.
months. We would ask that the STECF or the Commission expand on their DGAN-ELVV / 18205892
rejection by identifying any potential selectivity options they feel should
be explored.
• Haddock: The member states included a small de minimis for the use of
more selective gears in a targeted haddock fishery in the Irish Sea. STECF
have identified a recent discard rate of 0.6% for the gears currently in use
and conclude that more selective gears would further reduce discards. We
consider the rejection of this de minimis removes an incentive for the fleet
to adopt more selective gears, however given the updated discard rate the
need for this de minimis is indeed questionable. We would invite the
Commission to explain why further improvement is now needed.
We remain available for any inquiry you may have in this regard.
Yours sincerely,
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
The Netherlands
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