Brussels, 20/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 20 November, the Council of Ministers of the EU adopted, without debate, a regulation setting total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2010 for the waters of the Baltic Sea. Only Poland abstained from the vote, stating that the Council, in its decision to increase the mesh size of cod ends in Bacoma and T90 fishing gear, failed to take account of the scientific advice on the selectivity of gear used to catch cod in the Baltic Sea.
The compromise reached by fisheries ministers on 20 October (see EUROPE 10002), in 2010 (with comparison with 2009), provides for: - increased fishing possibilities for cod (up 15% for the eastern stock, to 51,267 tonnes), and 8% for the western stock, to 17,700t), in line with the provisions of the multiannual management plan for cod; - a 25% TAC increase for herring in the eastern section of the Baltic, an increase of 4% for herring in the Gulf of Riga, but a 16.5% reduction for western herring and a 12% reduction for the central stock; - a drop of 5% in the salmon TAC in the main basin; - a 5% reduction in the sprat TAC (to 379,955t); - no change in the TAC for plaice.
Measures to limit fishing effort are provided for: - the maximum number of days absent from port (days at sea) will be 181 days in the western Baltic and 160 in the eastern Baltic (a 10% reduction in both zones); - a ban on high-grading (keeping the most valuable fish and discarding the less valuable); - improvements in the selectivity of fishing gear; - extension of the transitional technical measures on the ban on keeping white fluke (Platichthys flesus) and turbot (Psetta maxima) at certain times of the year and in certain zones. (L.C./transl.rt)