The control of the Landing Obligation in Denmark

The report finds that Denmark has failed to establish necessary control measures to ensure compliance with the EU landing obligation, noting that the Danish Fisheries Agency detected only three infringements per year in 2017 and 2018. Evidence from last-haul inspections indicates widespread illegal discarding of fish below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS), with cod under MCRS making up 13% in the Baltic and 6% in the North Sea, compared to less than 1% reported in logbooks. The document also highlights 'high-grading' (discarding legal but smaller fish) as a persistent issue, supported by trials from 2008-2015. It concludes that traditional surveillance is ineffective and identifies closed-circuit television (CCTV) and Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) as the only effective tools for enforcement. Furthermore, it criticizes the European Commission for failing to police Member State compliance and for setting Total Allowable Catches (TAC) based on the flawed assumption that no unaccounted discards occur.

• The Danish government's operational efforts and control quality are insufficient to meet EU legal obligations, as the Danish Fisheries Agency detected only three infringements of the landing obligation in both 2017 and 2018, none of which were found through active at-sea inspections.
• At-sea inspections for the cod fishery are inadequate, covering less than 1% of catches, while landing inspections remain consistent at 3%.
• Last-haul inspections reveal a significant gap between reported and actual discards of fish below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS); for cod, actual shares were 13% in the Baltic and 6% in the North Sea, while logbooks typically showed under 1%.
• Illegal 'high-grading' (discarding fish above MCRS to keep higher-value catches) was documented in Danish trials between 2008 and 2015 and is assumed to still be practiced outside the Eastern Baltic.
• Traditional control methods like aerial surveillance and at-sea inspections are considered ineffective for monitoring the landing obligation, with closed-circuit television (CCTV) identified as the only effective tool for enforcement and deterrence.
• The European Commission has failed in its role as 'Guardian of the Treaties' by not ensuring Member State compliance with the landing obligation and by proposing Total Allowable Catches (TAC) based on the incorrect assumption that no unaccounted discards occur.

APA

ClientEarth (2019). The control of the Landing Obligation in Denmark. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ashhk3al/the-control-of-the-landing-obligation-in-denmark-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. The control of the Landing Obligation in Denmark. 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/media/ashhk3al/the-control-of-the-landing-obligation-in-denmark-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=The control of the Landing Obligation in Denmark |date=October 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/ashhk3al/the-control-of-the-landing-obligation-in-denmark-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2019control, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{The control of the Landing Obligation in Denmark}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/ashhk3al/the-control-of-the-landing-obligation-in-denmark-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }