The main item on this Council agenda will be the fishing opportunities for 2009 (TACs and quotas).
The points on the agenda are:
Fisheries
TACs and quotas 2009
Every year at this time the Council is invited, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, to set Total Allowable Catches (TACs), quotas and permitted levels of fishing activity for the main commercial stocks in EU waters of the North-East Atlantic for the coming year. The current proposal does not include TACs and quotas for the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea or for deep sea stocks, which have been established by Council already earlier this autumn.
The Commission's proposal of 10 November (IP/08/1669) is based on the latest advice from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and guided by the general principles laid down in its annual Policy Statement issued in May, in particular:
- greater flexibility in changing TACs from year to year, to enable both more effective recovery measures for overexploited stocks, and greater benefit for fishermen when stocks do recover; and
- shift to a kilowatt-day system for managing fishing effort, which will be both easier to control and more flexible to implement.
The abundance of North Sea cod has recently benefited from the good 2005 intake of young fish, allowing an increase in TAC to be proposed in agreement with Norway. Stocks of both northern and southern hake both continue to grow, demonstrating the benefits of long-term planning. However, a number of other stocks, such as herring, are in many areas in an extremely poor condition. The Commission has responded to the zero catch advice from scientists by proposing cuts of at least 25%. For anchovy and sandeel in the North Sea, which are both short-lived species, the Commission is again proposing that final TACs should be set once in-year advice is received on the stocks in the late spring. Until then, the fishery for anchovy must remain closed.
Cod stocks and associated fisheries
Levels of cod stocks are still very low in most areas. The Commission has proposed improvements to its recovery plan and, following that new plan, is proposing 25% reductions in both quotas and fishing activity on those stocks. The proposal also introduces a system of effort limitations for cod fisheries measured by kilowatt-day ceilings instead of the 'days-at-sea' system applied in 2008.
In the area west of Scotland, the stocks of cod, haddock and whiting are overfished and catches have fallen steeply over the last ten years. The Commission proposes to give a “breathing space” to these stocks so they can rebuild. This means stopping targeted fishing of these species and bringing in new kinds of fishing gear that let these fish escape while enabling fishermen to continue catching the prawns and anglerfish that are the most valuable parts of the fishery.
An intake of young fish in the North Sea has led ICES to forecast an increase in spawning stock in its latest advice. However, the recent high level of young cod taken as bycatch and discarded in this fishery remains a major problem. The recently revised recovery plan allows greater flexibility in adjustments to fishing activity, while encouraging more selective fishing methods. For the North Sea stock, the EU agreed last week with Norway to a 30% increase in TAC, accompanied by a ban on high grading (the practice of discarding legally caught but less valuable fish in order to increase the final value of the total catch), incentives for more selective gear, and a commitment to work towards eliminating discards as part of the 2012 Reform of the CFP.
Herring
A further substantial reduction in North Sea herring quotas is needed in order to prevent the further decline of stock. For the West Scotland stock, a new long-term plan should be agreed under which a TAC reduction of only 20% would apply.
North Sea sole
The North Sea sole stock is managed under a long-term management plan, which this year allows a 7% increase in the quotas.
Spurdog and porbeagle
The recent scientific advice on these stocks of deep sea sharks confirms their extremely poor biological condition, so the Commission proposes a zero catch.
Skates and Rays
The Commission proposes to bring skates and rays in the Celtic Sea, the West of Scotland, the Bay of Biscay and off Spain and Portugal under TAC management, and to prohibit the retention of the most depleted species in this group on board fishing vessels.
Blue ling
Following the scientific advice and consultation with stakeholders, the Commission proposes measures to protect blue ling spawning aggregations through the introduction of two protection zones in the area west of Scotland.
Short-lived species
In-year management systems will be applied again for short-lived species such as anchovy in the Bay of Biscay and sandeel, Norway pout and sprat in the North Sea. In the case of anchovy, the fishery will remain closed, subject to revision when data on spring abundance of the stock becomes available.
Any Other Business
Action taken against IUU Fishing vessel in Portugal – information to Council
In September 2008, the Commission requested the Portuguese authorities to inspect a vessel in the port of Aveiro which it suspected was an IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing vessel that had been misidentified. On confirmation of the vessel's true identity, the Commission took immediate action to have the vessel in question placed on the IUU list of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), thus giving the Portuguese authorities a legal basis for action such as prohibiting supply of provisions, fuel or other services. Portugal will inform the Council and the Commission of the context of this case, and of the actions since taken by Portugal to ensure that the vessel does not resume its illegal operations.
'A' points
Following discussions in CoRePer, the following point is now on the agenda for adoption as an 'A' point.
Multi-annual plan for the management of herring fisheries to the West of Scotland
The plan, proposed by the Commission in May this year (IP/08/707), is intended to ensure the sustainability of the West of Scotland herring fishery and prevent any sudden increase in fishing pressure which could jeopardise its future. Though the fishing rate is currently at roughly the level scientists recommend, there are worries about the numbers of young fish joining the stock which is slightly overfished. Under the plan, Total Allowable Catches (TACs) will be set in such as way as to achieve a high and sustainable yield in line with scientific advice. The target fishing mortality rate (measure of catches) is set at 0.25 when the size of the spawning stock is greater than 75 000 tonnes, and 0.2 when it is between 75 000 tonnes and 50 000 tonnes. Should the stock fall below the 50 000 tonne level, the fishery would be closed, until it recovers.
The plan includes a graduated approach to reducing fishing pressure which is in line with the flexibility recently introduced in the revised cod recovery plan. Year-on-year variations in TAC will be limited to a maximum of 15% as long as the stock is in good condition (i.e. above the 75 000 tonne level). Special fishing permits will be required for vessels fishing on the stock, and these vessels will not be allowed to fish both inside and outside the West of Scotland area on the same fishing trip unless they transmit their catch reports daily to the fisheries authorities in their flag state. The plan will be subject to review at least every four years.
Revised cod recovery plan
In November, Council reached political agreement on the amendment of the cod recovery plan which has been in place since 2005 (IP/08/493). Recent advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) concludes that the previous measures were inadequate to reduce fishing pressure on cod to the point where the stock could recover. Of the four cod stocks concerned, only North Sea cod has shown some limited signs of recovery to date. The main changes under the new revised plan include new objectives based on limiting the amount of fish removed from the sea by fishing rather than on targeting defined amounts of cod in the stock concerned, simplification of the fishing effort management system and a more flexible approach in adapting the rate of fishing pressure reduction to different stages of recovery. There are also specific mechanisms to encourage the reduction of discards and the application of cod-avoidance programmes.
The revised plan is based on the collective experience of managers and stakeholders with implementing the plan over the last three years, and will come into force from 1 January 2009.