The European Commission announced a package of measures to prevent further decline of sea bass stocks. Emergency measures will be implemented to ban pelagic trawling of sea bass during spawning season as part of the first phase. Sea bass spawning season runs throughout April.
Pelagic trawlers in the spawning season make up 25 percent of the impact on the stock, the commission said. These measures will protect stocks from being targeted when it’s most vulnerable. Plans for these measures are said to be adopted and implemented before the end of this month.
In addition to the pelagic trawling ban, a number of other measures have been proposed involving the UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The commission and these countries are drafting the measures jointly.
Measures will include plans to manage recreational fishing and limit catches of all other commercial fisheries. The commission will work with countries involved to finalize plans and table a proposal to the council in the upcoming weeks. Full details of the measures will be published once they’re adopted.
