Brussels, 15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - As we went to press, EU fisheries ministers, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 15 December, were still trying to find a political agreement on total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2016 in the Atlantic, the Channel and the North Sea.
Negotiations were, however, dragging on. An initial compromise text was put to delegations around midday, then trilateral consultations (Commission, Council Presidency and member state) were conducted. The Council meeting was due to resume around 8.00pm.
Progress was made in the first text: - closure of the seabass fishery for handliners in February and March (but a six-month moratorium for pelagic vessels) and a catch limit of 1.3 tonnes per month for handliners (compared with 1 tonne for the other forms of fishing); - a 10% increase (to 10,622 tonnes) in the anchovy TAC in Spanish and Portuguese waters; - a 19% reduction in the cod TAC in the Celtic Sea (to 4,108 tonnes); - a 19% cut for sole in the Eastern Channel and a 19% reduction, too, for sole in the Bay of Biscay; - a reduction of 19% for haddock in the Celtic Sea, to 6,757 tonnes; - increases of almost 20% for northern hake but a 35% reduction for southern hake; - a 5% increase for megrim in the Channel, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay but a cut of 15% in Spanish and Portuguese waters; - an 8% reduction for langoustine in the Channel and Celtic Sea (19,889 tonnes); - an increase of 80% in the TAC for plaice in the Channel (elsewhere no change from 2015); - no change from the 2015 TAC for saithe; - no change from current TACs for ray (though a 10% increase in the Eastern Channel); - a 3.2% reduction for sprat (to 330,000 tonnes); - a 5% cut for anglerfish. A final compromise text was due to be brought forward in the evening.
The trialogue meeting on deep-water trawling, scheduled for Thursday 16 December, will probably be postponed until January 2016 as there remain a great many points to be negotiated. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)