Brussels, 04/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Tuesday 4 February, the European Commission stated that, at the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation's (SPRFMO) second annual meeting on 27 - 31 January 2014 in Manta, Ecuador, the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management adopted a series of important conservation and enforcement measures which show its commitment to sustainable fisheries in the region.
Following scientific advice, binding measures on jack mackerel were adopted setting a global catch quota of 440,000 tonnes for the Convention and Exclusive Economic Zone area. This should allow for a further recovery of the stock, which has for the first year shown signs of improvement. Although the stock remains overfished, no overfishing occurred in 2013. In addition, SPRFMO adopted a rebuilding plan for the jack mackerel stock. Conservation measures to regulate bottom fishing introducing clear rules for the sustainable management of stocks and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems were agreed. Conservation measures for minimising by-catch of seabirds by both long liners and trawlers were also adopted. SPRFMO also agreed to improve data reporting requirements on sharks in the future. The EU member states with fishing interests in the area are Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Lithuania. (LC/transl.fl)