The European Union and Norway reached a compromise in Bergen on 2 December on total allowable catches (TACs) for shared stocks in the North Sea in 2017.
The Norwegian quota of 110,000 tonnes of blue whiting in the North Sea has raised the ire of the ECR Group in the European Parliament. Ian Duncan (ECR, UK) has criticised the European Commission for buckling to Norwegian demands to the disadvantage of British fishermen.
The annual negotiations on EU-Norway fishing quotas agreed on an increase in the Norwegian blue whiting quota for 2017, without any corresponding increase for British fishermen. Despite the opposition of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the European Commission signed an agreement allocating 110,000 tonnes of blue whiting to Norway, increasing Norwegian fishermen’s access to Scottish waters, laments the ECR group in a press release published on Monday 5 December.
The compromise reached sees a 16.5% increase, to 32,553 tonnes, in the EU’s North Sea cod quota. The whiting quota will rise by 17%, to 14,703 tonnes, and saithe by 53% to 47,888 tonnes. The European North Sea herring TAC will fall by 7%, to 441,941 tonnes, while haddock will fall by 45%. “The Commission position over blue whiting is quite frankly baffling”, opined Duncan. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)