Brussels, 27/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will adopt its proposals on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2016 in the Atlantic, Channel and North Sea at the start of November.
For the first time there will be a rise in quotas to take account of the new rule that requires fishermen to land their entire catches. The discard ban will begin in 2016 for demersal species, such as cod and sole.
European Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella revealed in an interview with EUROPE that, in early November, the Commission will also adopt a proposal on catch limits for seabass, a species very much at risk. “There will be catch limits for both commercial and recreation fishing”, he said, so that all parties do their bit to reduce mortality rates for this fish. If the Council is unable to reach agreement in mid-December on management measures for seabass, “I don't rule out imposing a moratorium”, as there was in the early months of 2015 when the Commission adopted emergency measures banning fishing by pelagic trawling, he added (see EUROPE 11239).
Vella's department says that the 2016 quota proposals are likely to contain reductions in catches of cod, whiting and haddock, though not as sharp as in 2015. There will also be good news, however: the hake stock is doing very well and North Sea cod, which was long under pressure, is being fished in line with maximum sustainable yield (MSY). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)