Luxemburg, 12/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 12 June, EU Fisheries Ministers reached qualified majority agreement on recovery measures for cod stocks on the Baltic Sea.
The recovery plan, which is to be applied immediately following its formal approval at the next Council, reduces “gradually but surely fishing mortality in the two zones of the Baltic (Eastern and Western). The target values for fishing mortality rates (the rate at which animals are removed from the stock by fishing) have been set at 0.6 for Western Baltic cod and 0.3 for Eastern Baltic cod. Total allowable catches (TACs) have been set so as to reduce fishing mortality by 10% per year (until stocks have recovered). A fishing effort limitation scheme has been put in place, reducing the number of fishing days by 10% per year. In addition, the plan puts in place a two-month summer fishing ban in the Eastern zone and a one-month ban in the Western zone. In line with the decisions of October 2006, cod TACs for 2007 have been reduced by 10% in the Eastern zone and by 6% in the Western zone.
Under a compromise reached among member states, vessels under 8 metres in length will not be subject to the restrictions of the cod recovery plan and those of 8-12 metres in length will be granted considerable concessions: during the summer fisheries closure, these small vessels will be allowed to fish for cod for five days per month in the Western Baltic (where the summer ban lasts one month) and for ten days per month in the Eastern zone (where there is a two-month ban). These fishing days will be subtracted from the total number of days authorised in the fishing season (they are not additional days). The Gulf of Riga has been excluded from the plan, but it will have to be proved that catches of cod in this zone are negligibly small. The plan requires vessels to land fish before moving from one Baltic zone to the other. This measure will only apply from 1 January 2009. In the meantime, there will be rules to ensure that vessels which change zone without stopping in a port do not have more than 150 kg of cod on board. Finally, the Commission has undertaken to grant additional fishing days to member states which agree to permanently remove part of the capacity of their fleet. (lc)