Contact: Henrike Semmler
Denmark is the first European country to introduce camera control as a requirement for fishing rights. The reason: the shockingly poor status of the Kattegat cod. The stock size is at a historical low, and the number of new young fish has been below average for the last six years. Indeed, the lowest stock levels and young fish populations have been observed in the last two years.
“In 2019 Danish trawler and seine vessels, reported to have caught under two per cent bycatch of undersized cod.”
Given this alarming situation, scientist have suggested a fisheries closure for 2020 – essentially “zero catch”. To avoid closing other fisheries – such as the Norwegian lobster fisheries – which inevitably, unintentionally harvest cod as bycatch, Denmark has chosen to follow the European Commission’s recommendation to allow for 130 tonnes of cod as bycatch and introduce electronic monitoring with cameras for all demersal trawlers in Kattegat. With camera control, the authorities can enforce the 130 tonnes cod bycatch quota and monitor the size of the cod caught. This information is crucial to keep track of developments in the cod stock.
In 2019 Danish trawler and seine vessels, reported to have caught under two per cent bycatch of undersized cod. However, Danish authorities observed catches of undersized cod of up to a quarter of the total catch. This significant difference in observations confirms substantial illegal discards occurring for this type of fishing.
This is probably why the camera control proposal has been met with such vehement resistance among fishers. The Danish Ministry has set up a gradual installation of electronic monitoring on fishing vessels. The goal is for all 97 of the Danish trawlers that fish for Norwegian lobster, larger than 12 meters and logging over 20 fishing days in the Kattegat in 2017-2019, to have an electronic monitoring system installed by the end of 2022.
WWF has been advocating for camera control for many years. This is the only way to ensure legal compliance and make fisheries accountable, and we see cameras onboard fishing vessels as an efficient incentive for reducing unwanted catch. WWF will continue working towards mandatory camera control and hopes that other countries will soon follow the Danish example.
This article is part of the WWF Baltic Newsletter – May 2020
