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A  recent discards trial carried out in the North Sea has demonstrated the enormous problems that lie ahead for fishermen and fishing industry organizations in making the forthcoming discards ban work in the mixed fisheries of EU waters.

The discards ban -- or "landings obligation" -- is to be phased in from Jan. 1, 2015, to 2019, starting with pelagic fisheries. It will make it illegal for fishermen to discard any commercial species regardless of  size or catch volume. Given the single-species quota system now in place and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, this will create huge quota management and logistical difficulties for fishermen and fish producer organizations (FPOs).

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