Brussels, 30/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 October, the EU, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Isles concluded an agreement on a 15% reduction of their quota of blue whiting in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Barents Sea for 2007. In line with the international multi-annual management plan set up in 2005, which aims to reconstitute the stock of the species in five years, the total allowable catch (TAC) for blue whiting was set at 1.7 million tonnes in 2007, down from 2 million tonnes in 2006 (including 438,557 tonnes for EU vessels).
This TAC of 1.7 million tonnes will be divided between the EU and three other signatory countries of the agreement, first at the annual meeting of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) in November, then at the Council of Ministers of the EU to be held in late December. The allocation of the volumes of catches between Member States threatens to be tricky, because the Commission is said to be planning a change to the current formula based on historical references, in the face of the opposition of Spain, amongst others. The main Member States concerned by this fishery are Spain, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and France. For several years now, blue whiting stocks have been under threat. Catches of this fish have increased constantly, rising from 650,000 tonnes in 1997 to 2.4 million tonnes in 2004, according to estimations of the European Commission. The quadripartite agreement on blue whiting comes after the announcement of a compromise between the EU, Norway and the Faroe Isles on the management of shared mackerel stocks (EUROPE 9296). (lc)