The 2016 regulation on fishermen’s access to deep-sea stock has not produced all the expected effects, according to a report published on 12 May by the European Commission.
This regulation provides for measures limiting deep-sea fishing areas, protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems and prohibiting bottom trawling at depths greater than 800 metres (see EUROPE 12487/20).
For the Commission, the text has proved its effectiveness in “contributing to the preservation of deep-sea fish stocks”. According to the report, the ban on trawling beyond 800 metres has “reduced the accessibility of some key commercial deep-sea species, such as grenadier, orange roughy and black scabbardfish”, thereby contributing to a reduction in catches of other deep-sea species fished as by-catch, in particular deep-sea sharks.
But the report notes that “uneven” implementation of the observer programme by Member States has meant that “scientific knowledge of deep-sea habitats has not improved to the extent expected”. Due to the delay in adopting bans to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, the regulation “has so far failed to ensure the protection of these ecosystems in EU waters”, according to the report (https://bit.ly/3fsZKX0 ). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)