Danmarks gennemførelse af EU-kravet om at alle fiskefangster skal landes

The report concludes that Denmark has failed to implement the necessary control measures required by EU law to ensure all fish catches are landed and reported. Evidence from last-haul inspections shows significant discrepancies between actual catches of undersized fish and those reported in logbooks, particularly in the Baltic and North Seas. The document highlights that traditional surveillance is ineffective and advocates for Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) as the only viable tool to deter illegal discarding and 'high-grading'. It also criticizes the European Commission for passivity in enforcing the landing obligation across member states, which undermines the 'level-playing-field' for fishers.

• Denmark's existing control instruments are insufficient to meet EU legal obligations, as the Danish Fisheries Agency found only three violations of the landing obligation in both 2017 and 2018, none of which were detected through active sea inspections.
• Sea-based inspections of the last trawl haul revealed widespread illegal discarding of fish below the minimum conservation reference size (MCRS), with average undersized cod proportions of 13% in the Baltic Sea and 6% in the North Sea, while logbook reports typically showed less than 1%.
• Illegal 'high-grading'—the discarding of fish above the MCRS to save quota for larger, more valuable fish—was documented in Danish trials from 2008-2015 and is presumed to continue outside the eastern Baltic.
• Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM), including camera systems, is identified as the only effective tool for enforcing the landing obligation and deterring illegal discards, as evidenced by trials where monitored vessels landed significantly more size 4 and 5 cod than non-monitored vessels.
• The European Commission has failed to ensure member state compliance with the landing obligation, which creates an unfair competitive disadvantage for fishers in states that do follow the rules.
• In 2018, Denmark legally discarded 382 tons of fish under exceptions for de minimis catches and species with high survival rates.

APA

Druel, E. (2019). Danmarks gennemførelse af EU-kravet om at alle fiskefangster skal landes. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/lc3fj2xw/2019-10-15-danmarks-gennemforelse-af-eu-kravet-om-at-alle-fiskefangster-skal-landes-coll-da.pdf

Chicago

Druel, Elisabeth. Danmarks gennemførelse af EU-kravet om at alle fiskefangster skal landes. ClientEarth, 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/media/lc3fj2xw/2019-10-15-danmarks-gennemforelse-af-eu-kravet-om-at-alle-fiskefangster-skal-landes-coll-da.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Druel |first1=Elisabeth |title=Danmarks gennemførelse af EU-kravet om at alle fiskefangster skal landes |publisher=ClientEarth |date=October 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/lc3fj2xw/2019-10-15-danmarks-gennemforelse-af-eu-kravet-om-at-alle-fiskefangster-skal-landes-coll-da.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{druel2019danmarks, author = {Druel, Elisabeth}, title = {{Danmarks gennemførelse af EU-kravet om at alle fiskefangster skal landes}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/lc3fj2xw/2019-10-15-danmarks-gennemforelse-af-eu-kravet-om-at-alle-fiskefangster-skal-landes-coll-da.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }