22/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – Important fisheries management measures for 2017 were adopted at the 35th annual meeting of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) on 14-18 November. Conservation measures were put in place for blue whiting, herring, mackerel, redfish in the Irminger Sea and Rockall haddock. On the initiative of the EU, participants agreed to ban directed fishing for deep-sea sharks, rays and chimaeras, and spurdogs. Bans on fisheries targeting basking shark and porbeagle remain in place. The parties also adopted the EU's proposed temporal and geographically specified ban on fishing with bottom gears for blue ling. Measures were taken to toughen efforts to tackle illegal fishing (namely the electronic catch reporting system). (LC)