 Every year in Europe, 1.7 million tons of perfectly edible fish is discarded. That's the equivalent of more than 232 Eiffel Towers, or almost a quarter of all the fish caught in the EU. The vast majority of fish thrown back to sea will die. So why is this happening? The EU Common Fisheries Policy, or CFP, sets the rules for fishing in Europe. It aims to meet the needs of the fishing industry today, and to protect fish stocks for tomorrow. It sets limits or quotas on how many fish of a particular species can be brought to shore. But flaws in the CFP have led to the widespread practice of discards. For instance, if a boat fishing for several species has reached its quota for cod, any more cod it catches must be dumped overboard. Or if the cod caught are too small, they must be thrown away. This happens when nets are not selective enough. Fishermen also discard fish that are no longer valuable because of changing food tastes. But why does this matter? Well, because this waste is taking place where 43 million people in Europe are at risk of food poverty. And overfishing and discard stock fish stocks from recovering, defeating the whole purpose of the CFP in the first place. So what is being done about the problem? The Common Fisheries Policy is currently undergoing a once in a decade makeover. But will we see a sea change on the issue of discards? Europe's fisheries ministers recently agreed to end the practice. But proposed exemptions mean 355,000 tonnes of fish could still be thrown away each year. In the European Parliament, an overwhelming majority of MEPs have already voted for a total ban on discards. The Irish EU presidency must try to reach a compromise by June, or the deal could be dead in the water.