The European Commission welcomed on Friday 10 December the conclusion of two agreements on fish stock management between the EU and several other third countries.
The trilateral EU/Norway/UK arrangement covers jointly managed fishing opportunities for 2022 in the North Sea and concerns total allowable catches (TACs) amounting to 683,000 tonnes of fish.
The species concerned are cod, haddock, saithe, whiting, plaice, and herring.
The TAC agreement includes a renewal of the TAC for cod (15,911 tonnes). The TAC for haddock increased by 5% (52,691 t) and the TAC for whiting increased by 25% (32,880 t). For herring, the TAC increases by 20% (to 427,628 t). For plaice, the TAC is reduced by 12.3%, and for saithe the quotas are reduced by 24%. The Parties agreed to continue to implement a range of additional measures to protect North Sea cod, such as area closures, and increased cooperation on control in a trilateral framework.
Link to the agreement: https://bit.ly/3yg5tbC
EU/Norway bilateral agreement. The EU and Norway have successfully concluded bilateral consultations for shared stocks in the North Sea and the Skagerrak and quota exchanges.
The EU and Norway have signed three bilateral agreements on: - exchanges of quotas; - reciprocal access to waters for fishers of the two Parties; - quota setting in the Skagerrak and the Kattegat.
In terms of trade, the EU will receive 10,259 tonnes of Arctic cod for 2022, while it will transfer 31,500 tonnes of blue whiting and 69,623 tonnes of capelin to Norway. The Parties renewed the arrangement on reciprocal access for the jointly managed stocks in the North Sea, with a slight decrease in the level of access for both Parties.
For pelagic stocks, the EU will have access to catch its quota of Norwegian Spring spawning herring in Norwegian waters, while in the case of blue whiting there will be reciprocal access to waters of the other Party to catch up to 114,554 tonnes.
Another pillar of the agreement is the management of the different TACs for herring in the Skagerrak and the North Sea. In order to protect the Western Baltic herring stock, which mixes with North Sea herring in the Skagerrak, the EU and Norway have taken major decisions to drastically reduce the actual herring catches in the Skagerrak through various management measures while maintaining the relative stability of quotas and shares between the Parties.
Finally, the Parties also signed the neighbouring arrangement covering the Swedish fisheries in Norwegian waters in the North Sea. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)