News
January 13, 2012
Good reasons to criticise December quota decision
At the December Council, EU fisheries Ministers set quotas for 75 stocks in EU waters, covering the North Sea, Kattegat, Skagerrak and Black Sea. Seafish has produced a table that includes the agreed TACs for 2011 and 2012, along with the ICES advice for each stock (see below).
December 19, 2011
Fisheries Ministers: not enough progress, yet again.
On 17 December, after a difficult negotiation session ending at around 3:00am, the Fisheries Ministers of the European Council decided on the fishing possibilities for 2012 for EU stocks in the North Sea and the Atlantic. Despite assurances expressed by Commissioner Maria Damanaki, that ‘we have a happy end’ after the quota haggling, not enough progress has been made to ensure MSY is reached by 2015 for all stocks.
December 14, 2011
December Fisheries Council: Atlantic and North Sea TACs to be set
At the upcoming meeting on 15–16 December, the Fisheries Council will agree on fishing possibilities for 2012 for EU stocks in the North Sea and the Atlantic, based on the European Commission’s proposals. Crucially important in setting the quotas for 2012, will be adhering to scientific advice to be able to achieve the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) target. This has been agreed to by the EU to rebuild the European fish stocks to a more sustainable level by 2015.
December 14, 2011
EU-Morocco fisheries deal rejected by the European Parliament
At a plenary today, members of the EP rejected the fisheries partnership agreement (FPA) with Morocco by 326 votes to 296.
December 14, 2011
EU fisheries subsidies evaluation shows that they contribute to overcapacity
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) today strongly criticised the use of subsidies in sustaining overcapacity when publishing its investigation entitled “have EU measures contributed to adapting the capacity of the fishing fleets to available fishing opportunities?” The court investigated spending in seven member states (Denmark, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK) and found that four had set inadequate targets for reducing their fleet, leading to overcapacity, which the court identify as one of the main reasons behind the “failure of the CFP”.
December 9, 2011
TFCs discussed at hearing in Brussels
At a meeting in which Danish and Norwegian experiences of ITQ systems were presented, the consensus from four MEPs was that such a system of quota allocation should not be mandatory but may be a useful tool to reduce capacity if stringent safeguards are implemented.
December 7, 2011
Multi-Species Plan for the Baltic Sea
At the end of November, the Expert Working Group of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), an advisory body to the European Commission on fisheries management, met in Edinburgh to establish an initial work plan for an impact assessment for the Multi-Species plan for the Baltic Sea. The plan is suggested to include the Baltic sprat, herring and cod.
December 4, 2011
IUU regulation reviewed by IEEP
On December 2, the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) published an independent review of the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing regulation, which was adopted in the European Union (EU) in September 2008, and came into force more than one year later. Although it continues to be heavily debated —inside and outside the EU— an official review of the legislation has not yet been produced by the European Commission.
December 2, 2011
Commission proposals on new fisheries fund launched
Today, the European Commission published its proposals for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The subsidy package will run from 2014–2020 and is valued at €6.5 billion, a slight increase on the previous fund.
December 1, 2011
Baltic regionalisation discussed at hearing
Yesterday, a hearing on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region took place. Stakeholders, mainly from the Swedish civil service, met to review the two years since the strategy was initiated under the Swedish EU Presidency, and discuss what the future holds.