Jul
17
Fresh fish landings. (Photo: T.Ezcurra)
Galician scientists coordinate European fishing discard project
SPAIN
Friday, July 18, 2014, 03:10 (GMT + 9)
Experts from the Institute of Marine Research (IIM) have begun work on a European project which aims to provide solutions to economic and environmental problems of fisheries discards.
The study has two research lines:
- Analyze the catches and discards recorded in different fisheries to establish space-temporal areas with higher incidence;
- Offer viable alternatives for economic utilization of these products that are currently not used.
Scientists will focus on finding solutions for the implementation of the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to have “the lowest possible cost on fishing fleets.”
The CFP will require fleets to unload all the captures, even the unwanted ones. It is estimated that each year between 80 and 100 million tonnes of fisheries resources are caught in the world. Out of this total, between 7 and 10 million are discards produced for biological, legal, economic and technical reasons, the newspaper El Correo Gallego reported.
The project will cost about EUR 4 million and will take four years. Scientists of the Superior Scientific Research Council (CSIC), the Supercomputing Centre of Galicia (CESGA), the Ocean Technology Centre (CETMAR), the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), the Fresh Fish Producers Organisation of the Harbour and Estuary Marín (OPROMAR), Workshops Josmar and the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) will participate in the project.
This initiative, called ‘Life iSEAS’, follows other previous research projects, such as ‘Befair’ and ‘Faros’.
Project promoters will seek to document all products being loaded onboard the ships, to quantify the volume and the captured resources and to establish in which areas the largest percentage of discards appears at each time.
In order to evaluate the possibility of using products that have not been marketed so far (due to their size, rapid degradation or other factors), two plants will be installed in the port of Marin. One will be used for treating the biomass not intended for human consumption and the other for obtaining food products prepared for consumption.
According to Xulio Valeiras Mota, a researcher at the Oceanographic Centre of Vigo, this project has the goal of “contributing to the reduction of discards,” through greater knowledge of species, abundance and areas.
Meanwhile, Gonzalo Rodríguez, a professor of Applied Economics at the University of Santiago, stressed “the economic relevance” as well as the environment one in this project, which is mainly due to “the importance of the fisheries sector in Galicia”.
Ricardo I. Pérez Martin, CSIC head and the project coordinator, said they hope to develop a sustainable scenario by designing innovative solutions for discard management and reduction. And they also aim to revalue resources that are often discarded, such as horse mackerel and mackerel.
Related article:
– The discard policy ‘is a big challenge’ for EU fishermen
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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