Brussels, 07/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Didier Gascuel, head of the French fisheries association AFH, considers that the decisions of European fisheries ministers at the end of December on the total allowable catches and quotas for 2013 in the Atlantic, North Sea and English Channel contravene scientific recommendations (see EUROPE 10756). This is an opinion that is shared by some environmental NGOs in the EU, such as Oceana.
The last Fisheries Council, which was dedicated to fixing the 2013 quotas, in reality ended in a “Pyrrhic victory” in Gascuel's opinion. He believes that that for almost two thirds of stocks, the ministers called for and obtained quotas that were appreciably higher than what the European Commission was proposing. Frédéric Cuvillier, the French minister, said: “This agreement enables the sustainability of Atlantic stocks to be guaranteed by relying on scientific opinion, while also preserving fisheries' economic activity.”
The Commission proposed restrictions for some stocks that went beyond scientific recommendations, for plaice and sole stocks in the English Channel, for example. The quotas adopted in these cases, however, ended up similar to the scientific advice (6,400 and 5,900 tonnes respectively).
Yet for other stocks, “the decisions taken do not respect the rules of sustainable fishing”, according to AFH. The quotas go way beyond scientific advice, for example, for northern hake (+21%), for Celtic Sea anglerfish (+49%), for Celtic Sea haddock (+49%) and for Bay of Biscay langoustine (+22%). “Very often, it's a question of stocks that are showing fragile signs of recovery”, Gascuel says. In his opinion, fishermen would be wrong to be pleased about the measures taken. “Today's generous quotas risk compromising this start to improvement and they risk obliterating tomorrow's catches” (our translation throughout). He considers it most regrettable that the French minister can again set scientific advice against the economic activity of fisheries. (LC/transl.fl)