Brussels, 21/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The fisheries ministers of the EU's Member States were moving towards agreement, in Brussels on Tuesday night, over reconstituting endangered cod stocks and Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas for 2005. The European Commission agreed to scrap its plan to ban cod fishing from certain areas of the North Sea, in return for further cuts in the number of days ships are allowed to fish. The Commission also agreed to extend French and Spanish anchovy quotas in the Bay of Biscay to 2005 (30,000 tonnes, versus 33,000 tonnes in 2004).
As Europe was going to press, negotiations were under way over the plan to restore sole stocks in the west of the English Channel, and fishing quotas for deep sea fish, including roundnose grenadier, black scabbardfish, tusk and ling (only Germany and Sweden supported the Commission's idea to cut the fishing fleet by 30% and quotas by more than 50%). In the afternoon, the Council discussed an initial compromise drafted by the Dutch Presidency in agreement with the European Commission in favour of Spain and Portugal (for hake and Norway lobster) and Member States that fish in the Baltic Sea (Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland and the Baltic States).
Restoring cod stocks. The Dutch Presidency's compromise abandonned the unpopular idea (according to most of the Member States affected, namely France, Spain, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands) of closing off areas of the North Sea to fishing in order to protect depleted cod stocks, in return for a two-day reduction in the number of days allowed fishing (ranging from 8 to 20 days a month, depending on net size). The Commission also agreed to abandon plans to extend the current areas where cod fishing is banned off the west of Scotland and the Irish Sea, as long as the number of days authorised for fishing is cut (which Ireland is unhappy about). For cod in the Baltic Sea, the Presidency compromise takes into account most of the concerns of the Member States affected, particularly Poland (zones where fishing is banned to apply all year in three spawning grounds, seven-month summer ban in the East Baltic, 38,000 tone TAC for eastern cod and inspection of ships more than 8 metres long).
Hake and Norway lobster. Off the Iberian Peninsula, the compromise suggested increasing the number of days of authorised hake fishing from 20 (as in the initial document) to 22 and to cut from five to three the number of areas where Norway lobster fishing is banned. This flexibility was welcomed by the Member States in question, namely Spain and Portugal.
Restoring depleted sole stocks. France, the UK and Belgium oppose the idea of reducing the number of days when sole fishing is authorised in the western English Channel to 18 for netters and beam trawlers. France suggested replacing this with a system whereby countries issue special permits in order to manage and control fishing, but the Commission seemed unconvinced by France's ideas at this stage.