The establishment of multiannual Total Allowable Catches (TACs), the contribution to food security and the process of decarbonising the fishing fleet are the main priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of fisheries, said the Spanish Minister, Luis Planas, on Wednesday 20 September.
Addressing members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries, Mr Planas also pointed out that on 28 and 29 September in Malaga, the Directors-General for Fisheries of the EU countries will be discussing the contribution of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) to food security (see EUROPE 13225/4).
Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spanish) advocated reform of the CFP and aid for the renovation of fishing fleets. Izaskun Bilbao (Renew Europe, Spanish) asked for clarification on the EU/Senegal and EU/Morocco bilateral agreements. Ana Miranda (Greens/EFA, Spanish) called for a debate in the EU Council on updating the principle of ‘relative stability’ (distribution of quotas between countries).
Multiannual quotas. According to Luis Planas, the CFP’s decision-making process needs to be improved. He pointed out that there was a majority within the EU Council in favour of introducing multiannual TACs from 2024 for certain species for which scientific data is available.
Mr Planas described as unacceptable the fact that Norway is unilaterally setting higher fishing quotas for 2024. He indicated that the vast majority of the EU Council considers that it is necessary to introduce, where appropriate, trade aspects into these negotiations with Norway.
Bilateral agreements. Among other priorities, Mr Planas spoke of the future of the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco, and hoped that the negotiations would enable the agreement to be renewed, even if rulings by the General Court are expected (see EUROPE 13225/5).
With regard to the fisheries agreement between the EU and Senegal, Spanish vessels were paralysed for five months in 2022 because Dakar had not granted them licences to fish in its waters. The Spanish minister explained that measures had been taken to try to compensate the companies affected.
“The European Commission has only given us the option of using the guidelines on State aid, and we are trying to get the Commission to authorise the possibility of this compensation”, he said.
Fishing in the Mediterranean. Last December, Spain opposed the agreement on Mediterranean quotas for 2023, arguing that it was not by reducing the number of fishing days, but by improving the selectivity of fishing gear, that maximum sustainable yields would be achieved by 2025. Mr Planas stated that there had been a purely mechanical application of the multiannual plan. “To think that fishing mortality is one of the most decisive factors or the only decisive factor influencing the health of the seas and oceans seems to me to be an absolute error”, he stressed. He said that the negative consequences of pollution in the Mediterranean are greater than those of fishing. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)