The fisheries ministers of France, Spain and Portugal called, on Sunday 11 December, for work to begin on setting multiannual (three-year) total allowable catches (TACs) for certain fish stocks from 2024.
“This would be excellent news for the EU ministers and our fishing community, who want to plan their activity in the best possible way”, said the Spanish Minister, Luis Planas.
TACs and quotas are negotiated most often each year at the end-of-year ‘fishing marathons’ at the EU Council in Brussels, which often result in painful decisions for fishermen.
The French Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, who presented the working document drawn up by three countries (France, Spain and Portugal), also stressed that professionals need multiannual guarantees. He cited the examples of bluefin tuna and pollack.
The multiannual nature of the allowances makes it possible to guarantee the sustainability of activities and “to make the investments necessary for decarbonisation”, added Mr Berville.
These three countries propose to start this ‘pilot phase’ with unshared stocks (with third countries: editor’s note) for a period of three years and with limited inter-annual flexibility (see EUROPE 13081/10). They call on the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to propose a list of stocks eligible for the setting of these multiannual TACs for 2024.
Not for all stocks. Virginijus Sinkevičius, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, said he “fully agrees” on the need to provide more stability in the management of stocks. He said that he had started discussions with ICES on this issue and felt that multiannual TACs could make consultations with the UK and Norway on quotas for shared stocks “more effective”.
The Commissioner stressed that this multiannual principle could not be applied to all stocks. For small pelagics in particular, it is more difficult to predict TACs over several years, as biomass levels can vary greatly from year to year.
Virginijus Sinkevičius stressed the need for TACs to be adapted to the reality of stocks. He agrees on a gradual approach, with tests on a limited number of stocks (not overexploited and not shared with third countries).
Several countries supported the ideas of these three countries, including Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Croatia. Italy warned that these multiannual TACs may limit the flexibility to adapt to unforeseen situations. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)