The number of European Union fish stocks managed at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) will rise to 59 next year, up from 53 in December 2017, while fishermen in the Atlantic and the North Sea will be able to increase their catches of a number of healthy stocks, following the conclusion of the annual Agrifish Council in Brussels.
Among the increases, the Council decided to raise the quotas for plaice in Skagerrak/Kattegat; the Southern hake stock; Western and Southern horse mackerel, cod, sole, and plaice in the Irish Sea; and sole and megrim in the Bay of Biscay.
Meanwhile, catches were reduced for herring in the Celtic Sea, nephrops in the waters around Ireland, and sole in the Eastern channel.
Also addressed during the two days of intense negotiations was the issue of choke species in mixed fisheries, meaning species with a low quota that can cause a vessel to stop fishing even if it still has quota for other species. For this challenge, the council implemented enhanced inter-area and inter-species flexibility. It also created a new quota exchange mechanism for member states without a quota for by-catches in five fisheries: cod in the Celtic Sea and west of Scotland, whiting in the Irish Sea and west of Scotland, and plaice in the southwestern part of Area 7.
The council also decided to further protect European eel by extending the mandatory closures agreed for 2018 to recreational fisheries and glass eel fisheries. These measures will cover brackish waters such as estuaries, coastal lagoons, and transitional waters, and will ensure consistency with the measures on eel in the Mediterranean Sea.
Finally concerning northern sea bass, commercial fisheries will remain prohibited with some exceptions, taking into account the positive developments reflected in the scientific advice. It was decided that allowed catches would increase to 5.5 metric tons (MT) per vessel for the hook-and-line fishery, to 400 kilograms for two months for trawlers, to 210 kilograms for seines, and 1.4 MT per year for fixed gillnets.
As well as increasing the number of E.U. stocks fished at MSY, next year also brings the full application of the landing obligation, or “discard ban.”
“As of 1 January, 2019, we finally say goodbye to the wasteful practise of discarding fish. This is a milestone for the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, but also a challenge for our fishermen in basins like the Atlantic and North Sea. I am glad to say that today's agreement takes this challenge fully into account and provides good solutions which address the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of E.U. fisheries,” said Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian federal minister for sustainability and tourism and president of the council.
