Brussels, 22/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 22 March, the European Parliament Fisheries Committee approved the new EU-Greenland fisheries deal. The new protocol (2016-20) replaces the protocol that expired at the end of December 2015. In return, the EU pays Greenland a financial contribution of €17.8 million per year - €13.17 million for the access to the Greenlandic EEZ, €2.931 million for supporting the Greenlandic sectoral fisheries policy and €1.7 million as an annual reserve.
Incidental catches of any kind by Union vessels will not be allowed to go above 10% of all fish stock catches and for northern shrimps the ceiling has been set at 5%. The species being fished are: cod, redfish, common Greenland halibut, northern shrimp, Atlantic halibut, snow crab, capelin, and grenadier. The plenary vote will take place in April in Strasbourg. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)