Fisheries reform: 'Our children and grandchildren will be able to eat fish with a clear conscience'

We may love eating fish, but will there still be enough left in the sea for our children? The Parliament is about to debate and vote on the EU's new common fisheries policy. The reform includes a ban on discarding unwanted fish and measures requiring member states to set fishing quotas based on sustainability. The European Parliament talked to German Social Democrat Ulrike Rodust (pictured), in charge of steering the plans through the European Parliament, ahead of Parliament's final vote on the reform on Tuesday 10 December.

How will the new common fisheries policy affect employment, especially in member states with important fishing industries?
The new fisheries policy will implement new rules to restore fish stocks. This will guarantee that in the future there will be enough fish to allow job creation but, most of all, that all current jobs in the fish sector are safeguarded in the long run. More fish leads to more and better paid fishermen.

Can the new sustainable fishing measures in EU lead to overfishing in waters outside the EU?
No, where we have fishing agreements, the rules will also change. We will fish only the amount of fish the partner states allow us to fish. We will also ensure that human rights are respected in those countries and that vessels refusing to abide by the new rules are punished. They won't receive fishing authorisations during two years.

Almost one  quarter of fish caught in the EU is considered unwanted and thrown back into the water. How will the new fisheries policy deal with this very common practice?
A discard ban will be implemented by 2019 and we would like fishermen to consider the best way to avoid discards, including the development of new kinds of nets.

I think it is very important that we managed to create a reform together with and accepted by fishermen, environmental organisations and politicians.
Our children and grandchildren will have the possibility to eat fish with a clear conscience.