Responsibility measures

The responsibility of the individual user should be increased instead of EPR schemes possibly overtaken by a whole sector and denying individual liability

Shared responsibility Shared responsibility

Relevant type of aquaculture:

Fish Shellfish Seaweed

Relevant sea basin:

North

Relevant stage:

Prevention and reduction

Related Barriers:

  • Guidelines and specifications for different types of materials and equipment are lacking. A difference should be made between consumables; i.e. single or short use materials and durables; i.e. long use materials.

  • In theory, EPR is an individual obligation, in practice producers and manufacturers often exert this responsibility collectively, including in how fees are set, modulated, and passed on to users. This can have negative effects on the proactive approach of producers to change, e.g. the design of their products or prevention of specific plastic uses.

  • No higher taxes on small and cheap disposable plastic gear items are raised, lowering the motivation of farmers to keep and recover them or use alternative materials.

Related Good Practice:

P&R GP7.1

Specific company requirements preventing accidental losses

SSC is a company who lays power cables across Scotland. Every piece of material that goes onto the vessel gets logged in and logged out once back onto shore. It is the policy of the company, not the legislation,  and reflects the environmental friendly attitude of the company as this policy is very effective that materals are not lost at sea. SSC is doing this as best practice but making it a legal requirement for all vessels, incl. the aquaculture sector can reduce accidental loss.