Brussels, 05/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On the initiative of Alain Cadec (EPP, France), the chairman of the European Parliament fisheries committee, a resolution on seabass fishing will be debated and voted on next Thursday at the plenary in Strasbourg.
For the time being, seabass fishing is banned, in an effort to help restock. The resolution aims to go further. According to the draft resolution seen by EUROPE, it calls on the European Commission to propose a multiannual seabass management plan, “with the goal of increasing stock to a level above the Maximum Sustainable Yield”. The EP is insisting on the fact that the management plan should be elaborated in compliance with co-decision procedure and in consultation with all the different stakeholders involved. Some of the management measures advocated for commercial fishing include application of total admissible captures for sea bass, decisions based on solid scientific data regarding minimum size and landing, as well as the introduction of spatio-temporal closures to protect reproduction, as well as other technical measures.
The Commission has taken emergency measures by banning pelagic trawls of seabass in the Celtic Sea, English Channel, Irish Sea and Southern North Sea until 30 April 2015. The EP considers that national management measures have so far been insufficient for protecting the species and is of the opinion that European measures on recreational fishing are necessary, in the form of quantitative limits, which still need to be defined. Recreational fishing catches are significant because they contribute to at least a quarter of all catches of this species. (Lionel Changeur)