Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 March, the Council of Ministers of the EU adopted, by written procedure, a regulation (modifying the quotas for 2015) which creates, amongst other things, a framework for recreational fishing for seabass, a species under threat (see EUROPE 11268).
Under the regulation, recreational anglers will be able to take no more than three seabass per day. This will apply to recreational anglers fishing from boats or beaches. Recreational fishing represents 25% of seabass mortality. There are 1.3 million recreational anglers in France and 800,000 in the UK.
This measure comes on top of the emergency measures taken by the Commission. Until the end of April, professional seabass fishing using trawlers is prohibited. The European countries are discussing the measures to be taken following this ban. France has called for catch limits (quotas) to be set in place for seabass. The countries are divided. France has historical rights over this fishery (70% of catches), unlike the Scottish, Dutch and Irish.
The regulation in question will also allow fishermen to make (accidental) bycatch of undulate ray in the Bay of Biscay (25 tonnes) and in the English Channel (111 tonnes). (Lionel Changeur)