Brussels, 24/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 24 July, the European Commission adopted a proposal on a plan, to run from 1st January 2007, to boost stocks of cod in the Baltic Sea, a prized species in eight Member States (Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). The Commission condemns the overfishing of cod stocks in the Eastern Baltic and the recurrent problem of illegal (undeclared) catches.
This recovery plan, announced in December 2005 when the current quotas for Baltic catches were being set (see EUROPE 9095), will be debated by European fisheries ministers at the November Council. The Commission proposes targets of fishing mortality rates of 0.6 for Western Baltic cod and 0.3 for Eastern Baltic cod. To achieve these targets, the Commission proposes several measures to reduce fishing effort: - setting quotas at levels to reduce fishing mortality from current rates by 10% a year (with greater reductions possible if the state of the stocks require); - continuation of the seasonal ban, closing all fishing for cod with nets larger than 90mm and with bottom set lines (from 15 March to 14 May in the Western Baltic and from 15 June to 14 September in the Eastern Baltic) - the continuation of the closure of three fishing areas (from 1st May to 31 October); - the reduction in the remaining number of days at sea (after seasonal closures) by 10% a year until the target rate for each stock is reached.
A special derogation to the closed periods under this scheme is available for small-scale coastal fisheries, where boats of less than 12 metres in length will be authorised to retain on board and land up to 10% of cod by live weight caught by gillnets, entangling nets or trammel nets with mesh sizes of 110mm or more. In addition, the fishing days allocated to Member States will be increased in proportion to any permanent reductions in fishing effort achieved, whether through permanent cessation of fishing activities or through the definitive withdrawal of vessels from the fishing area concerned.