欧盟将进行共同渔业政策改革

The European Commission is to unveil its proposals to reform the EU's fishing industry.

欧盟委员会将公布其关于改善欧盟捕鱼业的建议。

The proposal, which would take effect from 2013, is expected to give vessels quota（配额，定额） shares guaranteed for periods of at least 15 years.

The Common Fisheries Policy, which has been in effect for 28 years, is intended to keep catches sustainable.

Environmentalists have criticised the plan, saying it would lead to a "virtual privatisation of the oceans".

Maritime and Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said that the EU had to admit that the policy so far had been a failure.

"We gave millions of euros, of taxpayers' money, to fund larger boats. And now we are giving them millions of euros to survive - until when?" Ms Damanaki told Agence France-Presse.

"We have calculated that if we do nothing, in ten years' time only eight European species out of 136 will be in a good state. Already about 75% of fish are overfished."

Restoring stock

One of the central planks（厚木板，支架） of the expected reforms is to eliminate discarded fish. Currently, up to half the catch of some species has to be discarded because vessels have exceeded their quota, or because the fish are undersized.

Under the new scheme, boats are expected to land all the fish caught, and the whole catch would count against quotas. This would apply to species including mackerel（鲭鱼） , herring（鲱鱼） and tunas（金枪鱼） from the beginning of 2014.

Cod, hake and sole would follow a year later, with virtually every other commercial species coming under the regulation from 2016.

The reform is also expected to include plans to restore fish stocks over the long term and allow EU member states to set incentives（激励，奖励） for the use of selective fishing gear.

There has been widespread public opposition to discards across the EU, with more than half a million people signing a petition publicised by UK celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Though the reform proposal will be published on Wednesday, there is likely to be even more strident（刺耳的，尖锐的） debate before the final package is agreed in 2013, says the BBC's rural affairs correspondent, Jeremy Cooke.