Brussels, 17/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU fisheries ministers reached unanimous agreement in the evening of Tuesday 16 December on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2015 in the waters of the Atlantic, Channel and North Sea.
The reformed common fisheries policy (CFP) has passed its first real test, said a delighted Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella. “Some member states made very specific commitments to adopt measures to decrease the pressure on stocks that are in a critical state and to commit to additional measures, including cuts, if the measures they propose do not deliver”, he stated. The measures adopted on Tuesday “pave the way for a further improvement in the state of European fish stocks to the benefit of fishermen”, he stressed.
The Commission applied the reformed CFP rules: achievement of the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in 2015 where that is possible and by 2020 at the latest.
The second compromise drafted by the Italian Presidency, and put to the delegations around 8.30pm, proved to be successful. It makes provision, inter alia, for: - a 10% increase in the TAC for Portuguese-Spanish anchovy (9,656 tonnes); - a 39% reduction in the TAC for megrim in Spanish and Portuguese waters (the initial proposal was for -41%); - a 12% cut, to 8,342 tonnes, in the Celtic Sea haddock quota (-41% initially); - no change on blue whiting in the Channel and Celtic Sea (3,175 tonnes); - an 11% increase, to 90,849 tonnes, for northern hake (a Spanish victory); - maintenance of the ling TAC; - an increase of 3% (21,619 tonnes) for langoustine in the Channel and Celtic Sea; - an unchanged TAC for langoustine in Iberian waters; - no change in the TACs for ray (rather than the initial -20%); - a reduction of 15% in the mackerel quota in the North Sea (16,521 tonnes); - a 28% cut for sole in the Eastern Channel (-60% was proposed initially); - maintenance of the TAC for North Sea sole (11,890 tonnes).
The TAC for cod will fall by 26% in the Celtic Sea (the Commission began with a proposal for a 64% cut), while in the North Sea and Eastern Channel, the TAC will rise by 5% (but with a freeze on fishing effort, thus in the number of days fishing allowed).
Among the other quotas agreed, mention should be made of: - the maintenance of the megrim and monkfish TACs in the Celtic Sea and the Bay of Biscay; - a 4% cut for plaice in the Channel; - maintenance of the TACs for pollack and saithe; - a 26% reduction for horse mackerel (though +70% in Portuguese waters.
However, no agreement was reached on seabass, so discussions will continue in 2015.
The NGO Greenpeace was critical of the agreement which, environmentalists argue, will not put an end to overfishing.
Some fisheries ministers regretted the delay in the adoption of regulation on implementing the discard ban. The ban is due to come into force for pelagic species, such as anchovy mackerel and sardine, on 1 January. The trialogue on this issue is due to resume shortly. (LC)