Compromise on the fishing quotas for 2012

On 17 December the Council reached a political agreement on fishing quotas for EU vessels for 2012 that will be applied both in Union and in certain non-Union waters (the Atlantic, the Channel and the North Sea). During the first session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, ministers also agreed on specific fishing opportunities for sprat and turbot in the Black Sea.

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The aim in establishing fishing quotas and fishing efforts (number of days at sea for fishing vessels) for the EU fleets is to ensure that Union fisheries are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. This is part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the main EU tool to protect fish stocks from overfishing and to ensure the livelihoods of fishermen.

The common fisheries policy is an agreement between member states to grant free mutual access to each other's waters, so that each nation’s traditional fishing grounds and practices can be preserved.

Polish Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture Tadeusz Nalewajk, who chaired the meeting, considers this year's negotiations successful. "We managed to strike the right balance between the needs of the fisheries sector, the protection of stocks and managing the limited resources in our seas," said Mr Nalewajk at a press conference following the Council negotiations.

The quotas are decided on the basis of the available scientific advice, provided by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). In response to the Commission's request, ICES is providing advice on a strategy to achieve management consistent with Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) in 2015.

MSY is a tool that allows catches in a given fishing stock to be optimised to keep the stock in the right balance. The Union committed itself to achieving this MSY in 2015 when it subscribed to the conclusions of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

The scientific advice for this year indicated an improvement in some stocks, such as the Celtic Sea cod, main haddock stocks, and the southern anglerfish stock. This results from careful management in past years.

For the majority of other stocks, quotas remained the same as last year or were decreased (e.g. mackerel, saithe, northern prawn, skate). The ministers agreed on an increase in quotas for blue whiting (by 800% in some areas), haddock (by 200% in some areas of EU waters) and for herring in EU and Norwegian waters – by 110%. These are the largest increases.

The quotas for two of the main species in the Black Sea – turbot and sprat – remained the same as last year (86,4 and 11 475 tonnes respectively).

Quotas for the same fish stock can be different in different areas of the waters. For example, the quota for cod catches in the Irish Sea and the straits between Sweden and Denmark have been increased by approximately 150%, but banned in EU waters north-west of Ireland and decreased by 30% in the Kattegat, an area between Denmark and Sweden. (You can find full details of the agreed quotas here.)

The ministers also agreed to provide the scientists with more detailed and accurate fisheries data in order to help manage the EU fisheries better. The data that the scientists collect include, for example, the age and maturity of landed fish and the amount of discards. According to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, discards constitute one of the main problems that the EU common fisheries policy reform must address.

The two regulations establishing quotas in the EU and non-EU waters will come into force on 1 January 2012.

More information:
Press release (pdf)
Press conference webcast