Unwanted catches and discards have contributed to undermining the sustainability of fish stocks. The European Union’s most important step to reduce discards was the implementation of a landing obligation for all its commercial fisheries. However, evaluations by EU authorities and scientists alert of general lack of compliance with this landing obligation. This article inquiries on the factors of institutional nature that could have contributed to this outcome. We identify three important institutional factors related to the EU multilevel governance approach that, through diverse mechanisms, contribute to the landing obligation’s generalized non-compliance: (a) the centralized, top-down governance approach, (b) the influence of special interests and (c) the decentralized enforcement.

多余的渔获物和丢弃物破坏了鱼类种群的可持续性。欧盟减少丢弃物的最重要步骤是对其所有商业渔业实施上岸义务。然而，欧盟当局和科学家的评估提醒人们普遍不遵守这一着陆义务。本文探讨了可能导致这一结果的制度性因素。我们确定了与欧盟多层次治理方法相关的三个重要制度因素，它们通过不同的机制导致登陆义务的普遍不遵守：（a）集中的、自上而下的治理方法，（b）特殊利益的影响和(c) 分散执法。