When EU Fisheries Ministers met in Brussels earlier this week, a gradual introduction of the so-called omnibus regulation from 1 January 2015 was confirmed, despite continued disagreement on some key issues. Ministers also exchanged views regarding progress on the regional discard ban plans.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has released a new short guide to fish stock assessment.
Following the recent adoption of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund the European Commission has as of last week, set out the breakdown of the fund by priority and Member State.
Next week the Agriculture and Fisheries Council will meet in Luxembourg. On the fisheries agenda are among other the Omnibus regulation, discard plan as well as the establishment of a 2014 TAC for Capelin.
As of last week, Europêche, the Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises in the European Union, will be lead by Kathryn Stack appointed as new Managing Director.
Several of the regional bodies bringing Member States together under the new CFP are now in the last stages of preparing joint recommendations on discard ban plans for 2015, and stakeholders in the Advisory Councils are being consulted.
The scientific advice for Baltic Sea stocks was released earlier today. Because of the gradually deteriorating condition of cod in the Baltic, the eastern stock is now classified as data-limited and severe cuts in fishing possibilities are proposed for both cod stocks.
The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the first draft of the new Block Exemption Regulation applicable to the fishery and aquaculture sector (FIBER) to collect the views of citizens and stakeholders.
In late May the European Commission adopted the working document ‘A sustainable blue growth agenda for the Baltic Sea Region’ which sets out to provide Baltic Sea member states with a blueprint on how to harness the region´s strength to boost innovation and growth within the maritime area.
Work on a joint recommendation for a Baltic discard ban plan has continued among the Baltic Member States throughout the spring. In mid-May, a revised version of the earlier drafts was circulated by BALTFISH to stakeholders, such as the Baltic Sea Advisory Council.