Brussels, 14/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission adopted emergency measures (for a 6 month period as of next September) for the recovery of hake stocks. The measures (technical, monitoring and data collections) that aim to protect juvenile hake in the framework of targeted and non-targeted fishing mainly concern France, Spain and Ireland. The hake stocks extend from the Bay of Biscay to Kattegatt. The recovery measures ruled by the Commission notably foresee: - bigger net mesh sizes (70/80mm to 100 mm for nets used in targeted fishing); - observers on fishing vessels; - limiting the quantity of hake caught unintentionally (the quantity of hake must not constitute more than 20% of the total catch); - protected areas for juveniles (the first off the coast of western France, the second of the southern and south western coast of Ireland) in which it will be banned from using any towed net with a mesh size between 55 and 99mm. Moreover, all fishing activity using fixed gear with meshes sizes below 120mm will be prohibited in the area off the Irish coast and, in the zone off the French coast, it will be banned from fishing with any fixed gear of a mesh size below 100mm.