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.

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.

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.