The Twenty-Seven on Tuesday approved the 2023 fishing quotas in EU waters, strongly criticized by environmental NGOs, and found a compromise on eel catches, which Brussels wanted to drastically restrict.
After a night of final talks, the ministers responsible for fisheries have decided on the "
total allowable catches
" by species which will apply from 1 January to European fishermen in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and black Sea.
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"
This is the best possible result to guarantee the continuity of our fishing fleets without compromising our commitments to the sustainability
" of fisheries resources, assured the Czech Minister of Agriculture Zdenek Nekula, who chaired the meeting.
This agreement “
preserves the ability of fishermen to practice their profession (…) and takes into account the efforts made in our stock management plans.
We have to adapt to the realities of the maritime facades
, ”French Secretary of State for the Sea, Hervé Berville, told AFP.
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The European Commission's proposal to prohibit the capture of eels for a period of six months corresponding to their migration has been the subject of heated discussions.
Fishermen's organizations considered that it would threaten the survival of their activity.
In the end, the Twenty-Seven agreed to extend the closure of commercial eel fishing in marine and brackish waters to six months, but allowing the States to adjust this period according to the areas, the stages of development of the species and periods of migration.
"
This proposal was uniform and brutal (...) We can adapt it according to the basins, with an application starting in March and not on January 1 so as not to condemn the current fishing campaign", insisted Hervé Berville
.
The western Mediterranean, plagued by endemic overfishing, has been the subject of difficult negotiations, while a 2020-2025 management plan provides for drastic reductions to achieve sustainable management.
States have approved a 7% reduction in the fishing effort of trawlers, maintaining a compensation mechanism granting them additional days under conditions.
Catch rates in the Mediterranean, however, remain far beyond the recommendations of the Commission and scientists.
Vulnerable stocks
In the Atlantic, ministers raised catch rates for several stocks which have shown a marked improvement, notably whiting, sole and Norway lobster in the Bay of Biscay - an area where pollack quotas have been maintained, while Brussels wanted to cut them by 10%.
The current quotas have been renewed for plaice in the west of Ireland as on the Atlantic seaboard, but drastically cut for sole in the northern waters of the North Sea.
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“
We see very modest progress
” in the Atlantic, where “
scientific management of resources has proven to be profitable
”, allowing a large part of the quotas to be raised, but “
the ministers are showing themselves reluctant to stop overfishing at sea Mediterranean or concerning eels
", denounces Vera Coelho, of the NGO Oceana.
“
Ministers have again chosen to ignore European (environmental) law and to maximize catches to the detriment of safeguarding the most vulnerable stocks
,” agrees Jenni Grossmann, of the legal NGO ClientEarth.
"
Their reluctance to close all eel fisheries could be the final nail in the coffin of this critically endangered species
" as scientists deem all catches "
unsustainable
", she insists.
Separate negotiations are continuing with London to agree by the end of December on 2023 quotas in waters shared between the EU and the United Kingdom.
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