Fisheries ministers are meeting at the AGRIFISH Council in Luxembourg on 9 and 10 October to reach a political agreement on the Baltic fishing opportunities for 2018. Commissioner for the Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Karmenu Vella, will present the Commission's proposal, and urge ministers to set fishing opportunities at sustainable levels.

The seminar reviews the latest information on the state of fish stocks and of the economic developments of the fleets in the North-east Atlantic, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and in the Mediterranean.

Today the Commission adopted a proposal for fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2018. In particular, the Commission proposes to increase catches for Central Herring, Sprat and the Main Basin Salmon stocks, and to maintain the number of catches for the important stock of Western Baltic Cod.

On 17th July, Fisheries Ministers of the EU will discuss in Council, the Commission's Communication that sets out its principles for healthy and profitable fishing quotas for 2018.

On 17th July, Fisheries Ministers of the EU will discuss in Council, the Commission Communication that sets out its principles for healthy and profitable fishing quotas for 2018.

Over recent years, Bluefin tuna have gone from heavy over-exploitation to progressive recovery, thanks to a massive international effort led by the EU. To ensure continued sustainable management of the Bluefin tuna stock, the European Commission is committed to implement and even go beyond the international control measures for catches during the 2017 main fishing season.

During the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting in Madrid from 20 to 22 February, agreement was reached among ICCAT Contracting Parties on the allocation of fishing quotas for Mediterranean Swordfish as part of an agreement under the recovery plan for this species put forward by the European Commission and adopted by ICCAT last year.

The EU is concerned by IATTC's failure to adopt a robust, science-based conservation measure for tropical tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. A last-minute agreement reached last week applies a catch limit for certain fisheries in 2017, but falls short of what is needed to guarantee long-term sustainable management of tuna stocks. Moreover, despite EU support for a plan to reduce fleet overcapacity in the region, capacity continues to increase.