On Friday, 24 May the European Commission adopted a proposal to make technical amendments to the regulation on total allowable catches (TACs) and fishing quotas for 2019.
For Irish Sea whiting (ICES Division 7a), the Commission allows an increase in whiting catches to prevent early closure of fisheries, while allowing an increase in spawning stock biomass (even if the scientific recommendation is a TAC of zero).
For Norway lobster in ICES Division 8c, the Commission follows the scientific advice by allowing only a 'sentinel fishery' to collect catch per unit effort data (with Norway lobster catches not exceeding 0.7 tonnes).
The proposal concerns an EU quota of 2,010 tonnes for northern shrimp in the Skagerrak and also provides for an update of saithe catches in the North Sea.
Finally, the regulation incorporates certain rules of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) on the multi-annual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In particular, a maximum tonnage of bluefin tuna caught in the wild (including Spain 7,000 t or Italy 3,764 t) is foreseen. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)