On Friday 28 October, the European Commission adopted proposals on Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for 2023 for certain fish stocks in EU waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Kattegat and Skagerrak, including for deep-sea stocks for 2023 and 2024.
In particular, the Commission is proposing a six-month closure of eel fisheries in EU waters.
The proposal only concerns 17 TACs. It will need to be updated after the results of the negotiations between the EU and third countries (including the UK and Norway) on shared fish stocks and with the draft TACs for species for which scientific advice is not yet available.
In particular, the European Commission is proposing an increase in TACs in 2023 for: monkfish (+12% to 4,156 tonnes) and southern hake (+10% to 15,554 tonnes), horse mackerel off Portugal (+15% to 158,005 tonnes) and megrim in the south (+33%).
For sole, the situation is different for each stock, but in most cases the European Commission is proposing a reduction in catches.
In relation to sea bass, the proposal maintains a recreational fisheries catch limit of two fish per day for southern sea bass in the Bay of Biscay.
Seven other stocks, managed solely by the EU, are still awaiting scientific advice (anchovy in the Bay of Biscay, three stocks of Norway lobster, cod in the Kattegat and roundnose grenadier in the Skagerrak and Kattegat).
Stronger protection of eels. In addition, the Commission proposes to reinforce existing eel protection measures in all relevant EU waters, including the Atlantic, Baltic Sea and Mediterranean, in order to promote stock recovery. The proposal for 2023 extends the closure of any eel fisheries activities from three to six consecutive months in marine and adjacent brackish waters and provides guidance to Member States on how to set closure periods to ensure their effectiveness. The state of the eel stock remains critical.
EU fisheries ministers will set the 2023 TACs and quotas for the Atlantic, Channel and North Sea at their meeting on 12-13 December in Brussels.
More details: https://aeur.eu/f/3u1
See the Commission's proposal : https://aeur.eu/f/3uk (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)