Consultation outcome

Discards reform

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 17 July 2023
• Last updated: 13 May 2024 — See all updates

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

Applies to England

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Summary of responses and government response

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Detail of outcome

The summary of responses and government response sets out how we will take forward these proposals.

Detail of feedback received

We received 52 responses to this consultation. 40 responses through Citizen Space (our online consultation hub) and 12 by email.

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Original consultation

Summary

Proposals for reforming the management of fishing discards in England.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
9:30am on 17 July 2023 to 11:59pm on 9 October 2023

Consultation description

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.

Published 17 July 2023
Last updated 13 May 2024 + show all updates

1. 13 May 2024

   Added the summary of responses and government response.

2. 4 January 2024

   Updated with the number of responses received and details of the next steps for the consultation process.

3. 17 July 2023

   First published.