Brussels, 18/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 18 January the EU, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Russian Federation concluded an agreement on the sharing out of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for 2007 of herring in the north-east Atlantic. In 2006, these five parties agreed to implement a re-stocking programme for this species but failed to achieve a compromise on the fishing rights for 2006. The re-stocking plan agreed to fix a level of 1,280,000 tonnes (t) in 2007, in order to preserve a reproductive stock of 10.2 million t in 2008.
The negotiations concluded on 18 January in Oslo in Norway for setting out the 2007 TAC for herring at the level of 1,280,000 t. The EU share will be 83,328 t (mainly Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany. Norway will retain half of the total TAC. The most recent international agreement on this stock dates back to the end of 2001, where the 2002 herring TAC (851,500 t) was divided between the EU, Faroe Islands, Norway and Russia in a common agreement (EUROPE 8091). From 2003 - 2006, quotas were set unilaterally by the different parties or through bilateral agreements. 2006 quotas for herring in the North East Atlantic rose to 967,000 t in total.
According to experts from the ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea), catches reached a little under a million tonnes in 2005, 580,804 t for Norway, 156,467 for Iceland, 132,099 for Russia and 67,000 for the EU (28,368 t for Denmark, 21,517 for the Netherlands and again 17, 676 for Germany). From 1996 - 2000, catches fluctuated between 1.2 and 1.5 million tonnes. After 2000, they fell to a level between 700,000 and 1 million tonnes. (lc)