On 19 October in Clonakilty, Ireland, the EU, Norway and the Faroe Islands reached an agreement on the quotas for mackerel fisheries allowed in 2017. This agreement is part of the five-year arrangement for mackerel agreed by the Parties for the period from 2014 to 2018.

On 18-20 October the 3rd Joint Committee under the 2014 – 2018 EU-Morocco Fisheries Partnership Agreement Protocol met in Rabat. The Parties assessed the second year of implementation of the protocol: both the fishing activity carried out by the EU fleet and the implementation of the EU support to the Moroccan fisheries sector were reviewed.

The Commission has adopted today two Delegated Regulations establishing discard plans for certain demersal fisheries in the Mediterranean and in the Black Sea. Discarding is the practice of returning unwanted catches to the sea, either dead or alive, either because they are too small, the fisherman has no quota, or because of certain catch composition rules.

First sales in Europe and focus on FRANCE (Norway lobster and European Seabass) and THE UNITED KINGDOM (Scallop and mackerel) | Icelandic fisheries: The EU is the main export market for Icelandic seafood. In 2015 Icelandic exports of seafood amounted to 454.553 tonnes and were worth EUR 1,57 billion. Of these, cod accounted for 38% of the total export value and 22% of the volume. | Consumption: fresh mackerel and fresh hake | Fuel prices increased 35% since the beginning of the year.

Is the system regulating waste disposal for ships working fine or should it be updated? Is it ok for fishing vessels and small recreational boats to be exempt from certain rules on waste disposal in port?

This month the Commission adopted three Delegated Regulations establishing discard plans for certain demersal fisheries and one for pelagic fishery. Discard plans are a temporary measure facilitating the phase-out of discards and the phase-in of a new region-specific style of fisheries management.

The 23rd annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) met from 10 to 13 October 2016 in Kachsiung, Chinese Taipeh. The EU is pleased by the progress made and welcomes science-based decisions on the permitted catch levels for southern bluefin tuna for 2017 and for 2018-2020, as well as the strengthening of the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and the ban on large-scale driftnets. The EU regrets that seabird mitigation measures were not adopted due to a lack of sufficient support.