Brussels, 26/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 July, the EU Council of Ministers adopted, without debate, a regulation amending certain fishing possibilities for 2010.
Norway. In the context of the fisheries agreement with Norway, a further 521 tonnes of cod in Norwegian waters and 150 tonnes of whiting and 100 tonnes of plaice in the North Sea have been made available to the Union. In addition, the arrangements for licences for EU vessels fishing for mackerel in Norwegian waters have been amended. These measures should be incorporated into EU law.
NAFO. The North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) at its Annual Meeting in 2009 decided to reopen the fishery for cod in zone NAFO 3M and for redfish in zone NAFO 3LN after a moratorium of more than ten years. The changes seek to amend the by-catch rules for the two re-opened fisheries.
Greenland. In the context of the fisheries agreement with Greenland, the conditions for fishing cod in Greenlandic waters have been amended. These amendments should be incorporated into EU law.
Bluefin tuna. The Compliance Committee of International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), at its special meeting held in Madrid on 24-26 February 2010, reduced the quota for bluefin tuna allocated to the European Union. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate those new provisions into EU law. Additionally, the changes bring into effect certain measures in the multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean: setting the maximum number of fishing vessels of each member state authorised to fish for, retain on board, tranship, transport, or land bluefin tuna, the maximum number of tuna traps that may be authorised by each member state, the maximum tuna farming and fattening capacity for each member state and the maximum input of wild caught bluefin tuna that each member state may allocate to its farms.
Cod recovery plan. Under the terms of the long-term plan for cod stocks in the Atlantic and the North Sea, the Council may, under certain conditions, exclude certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime. Germany has requested that a group of vessels targeting saithe in the North Sea and West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size equal to or larger than 120 mm be excluded. Ireland has requested that a group of vessels targeting nephrops in the Irish Sea with a selective sorting grid be excluded. France has made a similar request for a group of vessels targeting deep-sea species in the West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size equal to or larger than 110 mm.
Statements on the mackeral and bluefin tuna fisheries. In a joint statement, the Commisison and the Council agree that the licences to fish for mackeral in the Norwegian economic area and the fishing area around Jan Mayen will be shared among member states according to real needs and historic fishing rights. The formula for apportionment for 2010 is ad hoc and will not affect future allocations. If a member state requires further licences, everything will be done to meet the request, the statement says.
In a statement, Spain notes that, of the 185 vessels on the Spanish register, only 183 may be included on the list of vessels authorised to fish to be sent by the European Commission to ICCAT and will be able to carry out their activity simultaneously.
In a statement, the Greek delegation stresses that Greece respects the rules in the multiannual bluefin tuna recovery plan. Greece feels that the Commission proposal imposes an “unjustified additional limitation” on maximum tuna farming and fattening capacity. According to Greece, the Commission proposal limits member states' discretionary powers on sharing out authorised farming capacity and the supply of wild tuna caught. This additional restriction, it says, will have repercussions on a sector which is of great importance to Greece and which is in economic and social crisis. As a consequence, the Greek delegation will abstain from voting. (L.C./transl.rt)