In a contentious voting , the European Union has decided to ban the use of galvanic pulse trawling .
Tuesday ’s voter turnout contain new rules on how , where , and when fish can be view and also moves to simplify the more than30 sportfishing regulationscurrently in spot . This will include updating vulgar measures on fishing geartrain , sportfishing methods , and the minimum size of fish that may be caught , as well as stopping or restricting fishing in certain country , or during sure sentence periods .
“ The current province of standards is visionary , complex and rigid , so there is a need to revise the expert criterion , ” said MEP Gabriel Mato in astatement . “ Everyone agreed we needed simplification . We should n’t reinvent the rules , but rather make them clearer and more practical to implement . ”
An additional amendment to ban pulsed galvanising current fishing comes after disagreements about its effectiveness and impact on the environment .
Conservationists say it cause unneeded damage to the ocean floor , while garter say it cause less interference to the seafloor and catches fewer nontargeted species asbycatch .
The traditional method of trawling , known as shaft trawling , works by keep net opened by irradiation mounted at each end of thevessel . chain are attached to the nets and dragged along the seafloor . Disturbed by the trawl , Pisces swim into the oncoming net .
A pulse dragger , on the other hand , usesbursts of electricityto shock flatfish out of the sediment and into the net profit . Supporters say the pulse rate churn up less of the seafloor , impacting benthic coinage less and reducingbycatch . Fishermen contend that the lighter payload means vessels are morefuel efficient .
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea ( ICES ) find short evidence that electric currents cause serious harm . A 2017studyfound the only known irreversible harm is done to large cod and Merlangus merlangus – 10 percent of which stomach vertebral fractures and hemorrhages when their muscles over - contract bridge from the shock .
However , some organizations and effort group arguevery little serious researchhas been carried out to investigate the farsighted - term result of electrical fishing and its impingement on the wide marine environment .
“ We know enough to proceed with pulse trawl in the present context , ” said Adriaan Rijnsdorp , a fisheries life scientist at Wageningen Marine Research and a co - chair of the ICES workings chemical group , toldScience Mag . He added that a determination should wait until 2019 when an EU - fundedfour - year studyassessing the consequences of pulsation trawl on the solitary industry has concluded .
Parliament has authorized Fisheries Committee MEPs to commence discussions with the Council onlegislation . Any decision will have to be consort upon by the European Parliament , Commission , and member land .
[ H / T : Science Mag ]
