This was a supporting detail page of the main policy document.
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the EU’s instrument for managing fisheries and aquaculture. It aims for an economically viable fishing industry that minimises impacts on the marine environment. Under the previous CFP, the health of fish stocks and the profitability of fishing businesses deteriorated, while centralised bureaucracy increased. The regulation on the reformed CFP came into force on 1 January 2014. This new CFP will radically transform fishing practices in Europe and includes the key UK government priorities of:
firm dates to ban fish discards
a legally binding commitment to fish at sustainable levels
decentralised decision making, allowing Member States to agree the measures appropriate to their fisheries
A ban on discarding in pelagic fisheries (such as mackerel and herring) started on 1 January 2015, with a further ban on discards in all other fisheries to start between 1 January 2016 and 2019. The CFP also includes, for the first time, a legally binding commitment to fish at sustainable levels, achieving ‘maximum sustainable yield’ by 2015 where possible, and by 2020 at the latest. This will ensure that annual quotas will be underpinned by scientific advice, to achieve healthy fish stocks and a prosperous fishing industry. The new laws will also allow countries to work together regionally to implement measures appropriate to their own fisheries, rather than be subject to detailed management from Brussels. These measures and the work on domestic fisheries management reform will help make the whole EU fishing fleet economically sustainable. For more information, see the European Commission’s website