DISCARDED FISH

That this House expresses concern about the economic and environmental impact of discards; notes with concern the estimate that two million tonnes of healthy fish stock are discarded each year; is further concerned that in some UK fisheries discard rates exceed 50 per cent. meaning that more fish are thrown back into the sea than are landed; is disappointed that the member states of the European Union were unable to end discards in 2006, as was the objective in the 2002 Community Action Plan to reduce discards of fish (COM(2002)656 final, 26th November 2002); notes the proposals outlined in the Commission Communication: A Policy To Reduce Unwanted By-catches And Eliminate Discards in European Fisheries (European Union Document No. 8179/07); is disappointed that not all EU member states have been providing discard data to the Commission's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries; is further disappointed that it is not clear when the EU Discards Atlas Project will be completed; and calls upon the Government to press other EU member states to produce sensible policies to end discarding at the earliest available opportunity.