The European Commission adopted a proposal on Tuesday 10 January granting small fishing vessels a derogation to the rule that bans cod fishing in the Western Baltic Sea from 1 February to 31 March 2017.
In December 2016, the scientific, technical and economic committee for fisheries (STECF) published its assessment on the effect of closing the fishery for Western Baltic cod stock during the period from 1 February to 31 March 2017. It confirmed that the closure, agreed at the Fisheries Council in October 2016 (see EUROPE 11658), would be beneficial to that stock.
The closure also applies to cod fisheries by fishing vessel of less than 15 metres in length in areas where the water depth is less than 20 metres. The STECF assessment said that limiting the cod fishery in areas where the water depth is less than 20 metres and for fishing vessels of less than 15 metres in length overall “does not significantly contribute to the recovery of the stock concerned”. Furthermore, completely withholding fishing opportunities in the Western Baltic, could have an undesirable effect on other Baltic cod stocks, in particular Eastern stock, due to the possible displacement of fishing activities.
Allowing fishing for vessels less than 15 metres and in sea areas shallower than 20 metres will provide a possibility for a limited number of fishermen to continue their fishing operations and target species other than cod. It is, therefore, “proportionate” to grant vessels of less than 15 metres in overall length the right to fish in shallow waters up to 20 metres deep, the Commission says. Its states, however: - that no fishing opportunities should be available to pair trawling vessels because of the high fishing capacity of such vessels; - all vessels allowed to fish under the derogation should be equipped with a satellite monitoring system; - the year-to-year flexibility established for the purposes of the landing obligation (ending discards at sea) should not apply to the cod stock.
The 2017 total allowable catch (TAC) for cod in the Western Baltic remains at 5,597 tonnes, a fall of 56% compared with 2015. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)