Discards reform

Discarding is when unwanted catches of fish are thrown back to sea, dead or alive, during commercial fishing operations. There is a discarding ban in place called the landing obligation, but it has not been effective in changing fishing practices. We need a new approach.

This consultation sets our proposals to reform the way we manage discards in England. This will contribute to achieving the bycatch objective of the Fisheries Act 2020 and more sustainable fisheries.

We want to know what you think about our proposals.