The European Commission adopted, on Monday 25 November, a proposal amending the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Quotas Regulation for 2021 to provide greater flexibility on certain stocks jointly managed by the EU and the UK.
Last December, the EU countries decided to provisionally set the TACs and quotas to be shared by the EU and the UK in 2021 (renewal of 2020 levels for the period from January to the end of March).
However, as some fishing seasons sometimes take place at the beginning of the year, some Member States had called for an increase in certain quotas.
The Commission agreed to some of these requests, proposing (https://bit.ly/2MqqQTJ ) the following percentages (instead of 25%): Norway lobster in Porcupine Bank (55%), sole in Eastern Channel (40%), plaice in the Channel (45%), undulate ray in the Channel (60%), whiting in the Celtic Sea (40%), cod in Norwegian waters (50%), blue whiting (70%) and Atlanto-Scandian herring (85%).
“Ministers have generally supported the proposal, but the EU Council’s decision will be taken at a later stage”, the European Commissioner for Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius told the press.
Consultations with the United Kingdom. At the videoconference meeting of EU fisheries ministers on Monday, Member States provided guidance on consultations with the United Kingdom on the final TACs and quotas for 2021, said Mr Sinkevičius. “We need to agree jointly on many TACs and apply a new quota sharing to the quotas for 2021. Ensuring sustainability remains our goal”, said the Commissioner. He stressed the need to reach an agreement before the end of March on the replacement of provisional TACs by definitive TACs for stocks shared between the EU and the UK.
Link to the Commission’s recent presentation of the EU/UK agreement: https://bit.ly/2YbDiJL (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)