Swimming against the current? An exploration of the conditions for a successful implementation of the landing obligation in fisheries policy

Abstract

The landing obligation is an article within the European Union Common Fisheries Policy (Regulation 1380/2013) that will be introduced in the demersal fisheries from 2016 onwards. The policy intends to end the wasteful practice of discarding fish by-catch in the European Union. The exact implementation is subject to discussion and negotiation. The discussion takes place amongst government representatives of different European Union Member States and stakeholders at the international and national level.

This thesis contributes to this discussion as it gives recommendations for a successful implementation of the landing obligation in the Netherlands. These recommendations are based on in depth analysis of the presence of conditions that could lead to successful implementation of the landing obligation. The analysis is based on a step by step approach. First a review of policy implementation and fisheries management literature has led to an initial selection of beneficial conditions in the implementation of the policy in the Netherlands. Second, an investigation of a similar landing obligation in Norway has been used to verify and refine these conditions. Consequently, the presence of these conditions in the Netherlands has been studied by studying policy documents and interviewing key informants.

The most important finding of this assessment is that several key conditions seem to be absent in the Netherlands: 1) The problem as identified by the European Union, to end the wasteful practice of discarding, is not shared by all stakeholders; 2) Consequently, there is no shared vision on the need for the policy; 3) There is no urgency felt to implement the policy by fishermen nor by the general public; 4) No enforcement mechanism that would enhance the compliance of fishermen is expected to be in place; 5) The decision-making process is not considered transparent by the stakeholders.

Based on the literature, it is expected that if these conditions are not met, it is unlikely that the landing obligation will turn out to be a successful policy in the Netherlands.

The research results in a number of recommendations for the Dutch government and industry in order to secure successful implementation or find different solutions. A selection of the recommendations is: 1) Encourage discussions on the reasons for the landing obligation instead of focusing only on how to implement the landing obligation; 2) Identification of market opportunities for by-catch species such as dab.