Brussels, 17/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - EU fisheries ministers easily reached a political agreement on Thursday 17 October on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for the Baltic Sea next year.
Fish stocks in the Baltic are at sustainable levels, Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki was pleased to announce, going as far as to talk of a “success story”.
For the Western herring stock, the Council agreed a 23% reduction (to 19,754 tonnes) in 2014, as initially proposed by the European Commission. Quota rises have been recommended for other herring stocks (30% for the Gulf of Bothnia and 25% elsewhere). The Commission proposals on cod were also accepted: a 15% increase (to 17,037 tonnes) in the TAC for the Western Baltic stock and a 7% increase (to 65,934 tonnes) for the Eastern Baltic stock. The Commission proposed a 12% reduction in catches of plaice. Germany and Poland and Denmark in particular pushed and won a carry-over of the current TAC (3.409 tonnes). The Council agreed a 2% cut in the TAC for salmon for 2014 in the main Baltic Sea basin. The salmon TAC in the Gulf of Finland has been cut by 15%. The Commission initially proposed a reduction of 11% in the sprat TAC. The cut agreed by the Council is 4%, to 239,779 tonnes. (LC/transl.fl)