New fisheries policy: sink or swim?

New plans to reform Europe's Common Fisheries Policy created a wave of discussion, but will they actually produce any changes worth waiting for?

The most eye-catching proposal was for a total ban on discards. It is one of the central points of the new plans, and surely one of the most politically charged.

The current state of play, where up to 60 per cent of catches are thrown back, is unacceptable and unsustainable – but it would be dangerous to allow this issue alone to dominate the public debate. A total ban may be impractical with such mixed fishing methods in European waters.

With discards, it is important to look at species-specific policies. For example, we should not further endanger stock levels of fish such as skate and rays by keeping undersized catches. Small fish could be returned because the species will survive being temporarily out of water.

Crucially, we must make sure public interest does not end with discards, for a lot of other important issues would be neglected. My Don't Ditch the Fish campaign aims to approach the issue of discards by incentivising fishermen. It strives to halt the process of micro-decision making in Brussels and return control of fishing policy to smaller regions based on fishing basins.

Fishermen will be allocated an annual credit allowance. Credits can be bought and sold between fishermen but only within a specific sea basin. Fisherman can catch whatever they like as long as they do not exceed their annual credits allowance. Everything caught would have to be landed and recorded – including most by catch species.

This system will ensure fishermen do not need to discard fish or worry about exceeding their quota as vulnerable fish – including those in recovery programmes, like North Sea cod – will have a higher credits rating than resilient fish from healthy stocks, such as North Sea mackerel. So fishermen will be incentivised to target mackerel and avoid cod to maintain a healthy credits balance. The values of credits can be periodically reset in response to local and scientific data.

Thus, one possible solution to the current discards problem is to afford fishermen freedom and flexibility, while rewarding best practice and stopping the number of fish wastefully discarded into our seas. Discards are only one of the systemic problems currently within the CFP framework. One of the aims of the new CFP should be to enhance the role of regional management in European waters.

The European Commission has stated it wishes to devolve more decisions about fisheries to regional and local organisations, but unfortunately it has not proposed giving member states very much authority. There is far more room for manoeuvre here and I hope that over the next 18 months of negotiations between the European Parliament and the commission we can develop a significantly more de-centralised position on a day to day basis.

A proposal central to the new package proposed by fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki is that the maximum sustainable field principle should be applied to catches by 2015. This is the way in which scientists believe fish stocks could be replenished but still provide some catch for consumption. This proposal deserves support but everything hinges on accurate data which is acceptable to all parties – and that is always controversial.

Damanaki's proposal contains positive elements on which to build. We need to consider practicalities and sustainability of the fishing industry while also ensuring fish stocks and employment for future generations. The big question though still remains: Is there enough here to build on for a sustainable fishing future or are we doomed to failure yet again?

Julie Girling is a British MEP and a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group