The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2002) 656),

–   having regard to its resolution of 28 January 1999 on the problem of fish discards(1),

–   having regard to Rule 47(2) and Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A5&nbhy;0163/2003),

A.   whereas fish is an important natural source of food and a public commodity,

B.   having regard to Article 7 (7.2.2.g) of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, according to which management objectives should include the introduction of measures so that "pollution, waste, discards, catch by lost or abandoned gear, catch of non-target species, both fish and non-fish species, and impacts on associated or dependent species are minimised, through measures including, to the extent practicable, the development and use of selective, environmentally safe and cost-effective fishing gear and techniques",

C.   whereas the FAO has estimated the volume of fish discards within commercial fisheries at between 17.9 and 39.5 million tonnes worldwide(2), which far exceeds the EU's total fisheries production (catches and aquaculture) of 7.8 million tonnes(3),

D.   whereas the optimal supply of fish depends on the fish being allowed to grow and spawn before they are caught,

E.   whereas some stocks have been reduced to a critical level partly as a result of catching and discarding juvenile fish at sea, and whereas overall reductions in fishing effort on many fish stocks would help not only in stock recovery but also in the reduction of discards,

F.   whereas there is a clear link between the selectivity of fishing gear and the percentage of the catch discarded; whereas, therefore, technical measures should be taken to ensure that juvenile fish can escape the nets and considering that improvements in gear selectivity should be encouraged and even rewarded in an appropriate way,

G.   whereas aquaculture should make an increasing contribution to total fish stocks and thereby relieve the pressure on a number of overfished species,

H.   whereas discards vary according to species, time and place,

I.   having regard to the biological and economic consequences and the consequences for stock assessment and fisheries management,

J.   whereas the system of TACs and quotas has the perverse effect of provoking the discarding of by-catches outside the quota,

K.   whereas it is dispiriting to see individual fishermen discard cod which fulfils the minimum size requirement, on economic grounds, at a time when biologists are proposing a total ban on cod fishing,

1.  Welcomes the Commission's deliberations concerning the introduction of a ban on discards as a medium-term goal but takes the view that the common fisheries policy should be based on the principle of minimising discards as one of the tenets of sustainable management of fishery resources;

2.  Calls on the Commission to make every endeavour to promote the collection of data on discards in order to obtain a better, more precise picture of the extent of the problem; calls on the Member States to contribute all available data and calls on the Commission to cooperate and exchange experience with other fishing nations, in particular Norway;

3.  Welcomes the Commission's initiative to launch pilot projects in 2003 aimed at evaluating the possibilities for reducing discards through various measures, such as the search for innovative fishing methods, voluntary departure from fishing grounds, real-time closures, by&nbhy;catch quotas, effort management and making better use of low-value fish;

4.  Requests that the Commission consider ways of giving preferential access to fish stocks for those fleets employing more selective fishing gear which results in lower discards;

5.  Considers that pilot projects must be selected in such a way as to ensure that they cover a wide range of fisheries targeting different species, in different areas across the Community and using different fishing methods;

6.  Calls on the Commission likewise to study innovative management methods, such as economic and financial incentives, aimed at reducing discards;

7.  Recommends that, in compliance with the necessary restrictions, fish be used as far as possible for the production of fishmeal and oil instead of being wasted through discards; recommends that the Commission propose measures, including a regulatory framework and financial incentives, to encourage this;

8.  Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal as soon as possible for measures which may reduce TAC or quota-related discards, for example by introducing by-catch quotas, flexible quotas, revision of quota allocation procedures, multiple species TACs, etc.;

9.  Calls on the Commission to draw up a report on the options, advantages and disadvantages offered by setting up a system in which fishing effort is the main instrument in controlling fishing pressure and in which TACs and quotas play a secondary role;

10.  Calls on the Commission to continue monitoring research findings on alternative fishing gear with a view to improving technical measures, in particular net mesh sizes and windows;

11.  Calls for minimum landing sizes and the selectivity of fishing gear to be made more consistent;

12.  Recommends that real-time closure to fishing for a limited period should be used as a basic management tool in areas with a high concentration of juvenile fish at specific points in the biological cycle (e.g. spawning); calls upon the Council to rapidly adopt the proposals to this effect made by the Commission in the cod and hake recovery plans; further calls upon the Commission to propose means of making these real-time closures as rapid and flexible to implement as possible, possibly by providing a role for the Regional Advisory Councils;

13.  Welcomes the abolition of certain derogations regarding net mesh sizes as proposed by the Commission in its proposal for the consolidation of the Council Regulation for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms (COM(2002) 672);

14.  Recalls that the discarding of fish can also be reduced by means of greater self-discipline among fishermen and notes in this respect the importance of involving the Regional Advisory Councils, as provided for by Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy(4), in formulating a strategy on the elimination of discards;

15.  Requests the Commission to examine how the Regional Advisory Councils can be utilised to their greatest effect to reduce discards;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

(1) 1 OJ C 128, 7.5.1999, p. 83. (2) 2 FAO Fisheries technical paper 339. (3) 3 Facts and Figures on the CFP - see: http://europa.eu.int/comm/fisheries/doc_et_publ/liste_publi/facts/pcp_en.pdf. (4) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.