Brussels, 18/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday the European Commission adopted its proposal on guide prices for fisheries products in 2005: decreases for a number of white fish species. on next year's guide prices for fresh and frozen fisheries products as well as the Community producer price for tuna for processing. With regard to the current situation, the Commission proposes therefore to decrease guide prices for most of these species by between -0.5 to -3%. Increases of 0.5% for megrim and 1.5% for whiting are proposed. Every year the European Commission officially publishes its proposal based on fisheries experts from Member States opinions on prices. The Agriculture and Fisheries Council is expected to adopt this regulation on Tuesday in Brussels.
Fresh fish: benthic and demersal species, the Commission proposes a 2% price reduction for cod
(1598 euros per tonne), sole and ling. Proposed reductions rise to 3% for saithe (to 743 euros/t), to 1.5% for haddock, 2.5% for anglerfish (monkfish). The Commission intends to modify current prices (2004) for dogfish, plaice, hake (3731 euros/t), flounder and common founder. Deep sea species, in this area the Commission suggest increases of 2% for anchovies (1270 euros/t) and 1.5% for mackerel, price reductions for herring (-3% to 259 euros/t), Spanish mackerel (-3% to 302 euros/t), whole white tuna (-1% to 2242 euros/t) . Prices remain unchanged for sardines and gutted Albacore. The Commission is also proposing reductions for crustaceans (except for whole lobster, which rises in price by 0.5%): -2% for fresh Nordic shrimps (-1.5% for cooked prawns), -1.5% for edible crab, -0.5% for lobster tails. The Commission has reduced prices for cuttlefish by 2%.
Frozen fish: the Commission has only increased prices for sea fish (+1%), squid (+1%) Illex (+1,5%). Prices remain the same for numerous products (black founder, hake filets, sword fish, Illex, Illex-squid), while reductions in prices apply to whole hake (-1.%), cuttlefish (-3%) and prawns (-1%).
Products for the processing industry: the Commission proposes reductions of 2% for yellow fin tuna (to 1195 euros/t).
Guide prices help determine purchase prices for fresh when they are withdrawn from the market when they reach a minimum price. Withdrawal management is carried out by producer organisations. Based on the products that are withdrawn, fishermen affiliated to these organisations receive compensation from the Community budget. Limited to occasional production surpluses, products withdrawn are usually destroyed but can sometimes be put back on the market.