Several EU member states, including France, Italy and Spain, gave their backing in Luxembourg on Monday 10 October to the European Commission suggestion of a management plan to help the recovery of the swordfish stock in the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the issue of whether or not to introduce a total allowable catch (TAC) as part of this recovery plan to allow overfished swordfish stocks to return to health was the cause of some division.
Spanish Fisheries Minister Isabel Garcia Tejerina stated that she would agree to a TAC on condition that it is phased in and that catch records over the last five years are taken into account when setting the TAC. Malta and Cyprus expressed doubts as to the effectiveness of a European TAC for swordfish. Italy and France were more open to the idea but only on condition that certain measures are put in place.
Fisheries ministers held an exchange of views on the position that the EU should adopt at the 20th special meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), due to be held in Portugal from 14 to 21 November 2016. The Slovak Presidency of the Council will continue the discussions with member state experts to come to a common position.
Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella told the press that the initial discussion on the EU position on swordfish in the Mediterranean ahead of the forthcoming ICCAT meeting had been positive. “It is imperative that the EU adopt a fair position to manage the stock sustainably”, he said. “If swordfish go, the related jobs will go too”, he added.
Vella called on the member states to support the tabling of a proposal at the ICCAT meeting for a swordfish recovery plan which includes the introduction of a TAC. The EU is responsible for 80% of catches of swordfish in the ICCAT zone and it is only right, therefore, that it take action, Vella stated. “The cost of doing nothing would be the loss of almost 1,000 fishing vessels and hundreds of jobs over the coming years”, he warned. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)