The European Parliament's Committee on Fisheries adopted, on Wednesday 21 November in Brussels, the report by Marco Affronte (Greens/EFA, Italy) which approves, with amendments, the proposal on the establishment of a Mediterranean swordfish recovery plan (see EUROPE 12008).
The recovery plan for swordfish, the stock of which is alarmingly low, was adopted in 2016 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). It must be transposed into EU law.
Rules are provided for the conservation, management and control of the Mediterranean swordfish stock, with the aim of achieving a biomass corresponding to a maximum sustainable yield by 2031 with at least 60% probability.
Priority to artisanal fishing. The new rules would allow Member States to: - issue fishing authorisations to fishing vessels targeting Mediterranean swordfish that have a record of catches; - distribute national quotas for fishing opportunities to various fleet segments, with priority to artisanal and traditional fishing (amendment by the rapporteur referred to in committee); - ensure that at least 10% of vessels targeting Mediterranean swordfish have on board national scientific observers, three years after the entry in force of the regulation.
Other technical measures established by the proposal are: - a minimum landing size for swordfish set as 100 cm length or 11.4 kg of round weight; - a maximum number of hooks (2,500) that may be set or taken on board vessels targeting swordfish; - a closure period is applied to longliners targeting Mediterranean albacore (Thunnus alalunga) from 1 October to 30 November each year; - prohibition of the use of drift nets.
Other measures, such as the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) (10,500 tonnes), the closure period (January to March) and the exemption from the landing obligation have already been incorporated into EU legislation at an earlier stage. This report will be voted on in plenary in March 2019, but before that, negotiations will be launched with the Council to reach a compromise on the text of the regulation. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)