4.1. Compensation to fishers for landing of ‘illegal’ catches
Although there is no doubt that the extent of unwanted catches in Norwegian fisheries has been greatly reduced, it is a fact, supported by detected cases, that discarding still occurs. Sometimes it occurs deliberately and as a result of an intended and unlawful harvest strategy, but sometimes to dispose of an unintentional bycatch. As an incentive to land the unintended catch instead of discarding it, fishers may apply for compensation for the extra work of handling and landing the fish. The ‘illegal’ catches may be sold together with the rest of the catch and through ordinary market outlets. However, as all firsthand sales and all payments for fish are by law [19] channelled through one of the six Norwegian fishermen’s sales organisations, the value of the ‘illegal’ part of the catch is retained by the sales organisation. Nevertheless, 20% of the value of the ‘illegal’ catch may be paid to the fisher as compensation for any extra work. In purse seine fisheries for mackerel, herring and capelin, this 20% rule was abandoned as it turned out to be too strong an incentive for vessels to exceed their quota by “filling up” on the last trip.
The sales organisations are allowed to keep the confiscated 80% of the value, and use the money on their lawful duties related to fisheries control, which include the collection and revision of all data related to firsthand sales of fish in Norway.
Generally, the landings of ‘illegal’ fish do not represent a large amount of fish or a significant logistical problem. However, some challenges have been encountered by fishers who comply with the discard ban and land certain species with little or no market value. The occasional and unintended bycatch of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) in the Northern shrimp fishery is an example. Such catches may be ensiled and reduced to meal and oil, or used for animal feed. As such catches represent small and occasional volumes, there has been no direct effort triggered by discards to develop new markets. Over the years there have, however, been several initiatives to develop new fisheries and markets for hitherto underutilized species. Some of these species has historically been discarded as low value bycatch.