This year the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, hosted by the European Union from 14 to 21 November in Vilamoura, Portugal, has to tackle an ambitious agenda.

Fisheries Ministers are to convene in Brussels on 14 November for the AGRIFISH Council. The Council is expected to reach political agreement on a regulation fixing the fishing levels for certain deep-sea fish stocks in 2017 and 2018. Deep-sea stocks have been regulated since 2003, but scientific advice indicates that they are still harvested unsustainably and that their exploitation should be further reduced.

European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella participated in the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Sea-Fisheries (SSDC-F). The Committee consists of representatives from the European Transport Workers Federation (employees) and Europêche and Cogeca (employers).

Today, after 5 years of negotiations, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) agreed to establish a marine protected area (MPA) in the Ross Sea Region – the first major MPA in the history of the Antarctic.

In preparation for the December Fisheries Council, where Member States will negotiate fishing quotas in the Atlantic and North Sea for 2017, the Commission is presenting its proposal for healthy and sustainable stocks.

A high-level conference on cooperation on Black Sea fisheries and aquaculture took place in Bucharest on 24-25 October.

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.