Two environmental organisations have criticised the European Commission’s decision to drop infringement proceedings taken against Ireland and four other EU member states over the landing obligation.
In a joint statement, the Environmental Justice Foundation and ClientEarth said it “risks undermining the EU’s important, zero-tolerance approach to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing”.
The proceedings against Ireland, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium were closed in July, the Commission has confirmed.
It is understood the decision was taken in light of provisions in the new EU control regulation on remote electronic monitoring.
The five infringement proceedings were based on EU rules as they stood in 2021 – as in regulations on control, on the Common Fisheries Policy and on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing – when the legal action was initiated by the EU.
Amendments brought to the EU’s control regulation introduced new rules aiming to effectively ensure control and enforcement of the landing obligation.
Under the new rules, vessels of 18 metres or more which pose a high risk of non-compliance with the landing obligation will be required to install remote electronic monitoring (REM) systems on board, including closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
This means obligations applying to the electronic monitoring of catches are now clearly defined under EU law, as the use of REM systems is now expressly required, which was not the case at the time the infringement cases were opened.
European Justice Foundation chief executive and founder Steve Trent noted that the European Commission President von der Leyen announced a “commendable European Oceans Pact intended to ensure comprehensive ocean sustainability”.
“It builds on the EU’s strong global record combating illegal fishing. To ensure this commitment to the ocean is not undermined, it is vital that member states are held accountable and fully implement their obligations to control their fleets,” Trent said.
ClientEarth fisheries lawyer Arthur Meeus said that “dropping these cases is part of a very public trend of the EU falling short on ocean protection - every year catch limits are set too high, and huge numbers of fish, seabirds, dolphins and other protected species are unlawfully caught in fishing nets as bycatch”.
“Without convincing evidence to the contrary, it feels worryingly like the EU is abandoning its commitment to end overfishing and protect marine ecosystems,”Meeus said.
In 2009, it was estimated that 1.7 million tonnes of fish were discarded back into the ocean every year by EU vessels, the organisations note, and the landing obligation was introduced in 2015 to address this.
However, discard rates have not changed significantly, according to an EU auditors’ report for the period 2014 to 2020.
That report found that “overall….the control systems in place to combat illegal fishing are partially effective; although they mitigate the risk, their effectiveness is reduced by the uneven application of checks and sanctions by member states”.