The Council approves fishing opportunities for 2023 in EU waters and waters outside the EU

After two days of talks, ministers agreed on fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean and Black Seas for 2023 and some deep-sea stocks in 2023 and 2024. Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for more than 200 commercial fisheries. Over 100 of these holdings in the Atlantic and North Sea are jointly managed with the United Kingdom. Ministers agreed on provisional catch limits for the first three months of 2023, pending a final agreement, as EU-UK and EU-Norway bilateral consultations on shared fisheries are still ongoing. These preliminary catch limits include the temporary extension of existing fishing opportunities for the first three months at a 25% quota in relation to this year’s TAC levels to cover the first quarter of 2023. This seasonality is taken into account in the first part of the year for some fisheries where fishing is mainly carried out. Ministers agreed on a similar strategy for jointly managed stocks with Norway.

The agreement is the result of two days of intense negotiations and goodwill on the part of all member states. We have achieved great results that ensure the continuity of our fishing fleets without undermining our sustainability commitments. We have demonstrated that the Council is committed to maintaining and recovering fisheries while protecting the future of fishing communities.

Zdeněk Nekula, Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic

Atlantic and North Sea

order To protect stocks And following the scientific reports, the ministers agreed

• Reduce TACs Lobster 14% in the southern Bay of Biscay (functional unit 31) and 16% in 9 and 10
• Reduce TACs the tongue with 30% in the Skagerrak and Kattegatt

Ministers also agreed to keep Ban on targeted fishing in Kattegat and to extend three TACs Pollock In the Bay of Biscay and Portuguese waters.

As a result of them Positive scientific reports And it is Improved stock position The ministers agreed to it Raise TACs For the following shares:

• Glassware (+ 33%) and Monkfish (+ 12%) in the southern Bay of Biscay and Portuguese waters
• Whiting(+ 5%) in the Bay of Biscay and the tongue (+ 20%) in the northern and central Bay of Biscay
• Southern Hack (+ 10%) in the southern Bay of Biscay and Portuguese waters
• Lobster (+ 19%) in the northern, central, coastal and western Bay of Biscay
• Place (+ 91%) in Kattegat
• Horse mackerel (+ 15%) in Portuguese waters

Ministers further agreed extension for Lobster In the Skagerrak and Kattegatt, Place The sea west of Ireland and the Atlantic area of ​​water around the Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Peninsula and the tongue In waters west of Ireland and the Atlantic region around the Cantabrian Sea and the Iberian Peninsula.

to Deep sea stock A fishing destination School reading A further 60% reduction of the bycatch quota to 2 tonnes is prohibited in the Skagerrak and Kattegatt. In addition, ministers agreed to a 4% cut Dotted buckle Extension of bleaching in the Atlantic area of ​​the waters around the Iberian Peninsula and in the waters of the Azores.

Ministers also agreed to a 10% reduction for shared stocks where stocks occur only in EU waters and where the EU sets the TAC itself. Bridge Collision In the Bay of Biscay and in the Atlantic region around the Iberian Peninsula.

Conservation of eel stocks

To protect the eel, ministers finally agreed on a comprehensive package to protect eels and help restore this unique species in European waters. They agreed that Recreational fishing ban And stretch The protection period for all commercial eel fishing is up to six months Taking into account different migration periods in different sea areas in marine waters and adjacent brackish waters in the Northeast Atlantic (including the Baltic Sea) and the Mediterranean (except the Black Sea). Member States can therefore extend the protection period of different fishing areas taking into account their special features and the temporal and geographical migration patterns of each life stage (glass eel and white eel).

Mediterranean and Black Sea

The ministers also agreed to it Fishing effort for trawlers should be reduced 7% to protect demersal stocks in the Western Mediterranean, in line with the EU’s legal obligation to achieve a maximum sustainable yield for these stocks by 2025. In addition, ministers agreed to continue using compensation mechanism It was established for the first time in 2022 and under special conditions + 3.5% additional days were allocated to trawlers entitled to it. This is, for example, an incentive to increase the protection of shares through an option or protection period. Ministers agreed to freeze further The effort of long linemen To secure the spawning hack at 2022 levels, this is crucial for quick stock recovery. They also agreed to it Lower the maximum catch limits For shares Blue Red Shrimp 5% and shares in Alboran Sea, Balearic Islands, Northern Spain and Gulf of Lion Blue-red shrimp and deep-sea shrimp 3% in Corsica, Ligurian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea and Sardinia.

In the Black Sea, existing TACs and quotas apply Turbo In an interim period extending till 2023. In addition, it was agreed that the EU will carry over an unused EU quota of 22.5 tonnes of turbot from 2021 to 2023 under a revised multiannual management plan for the species.

Background

TACs and quotas are set by the Council (Agriculture and Fisheries) in December each year. For deep-sea species, they are determined every two years. Ministers set catch limits for commercial fisheries for the coming year, along with national quotas for each species. The relevant stocks are managed by the EU itself, together with neighboring countries outside the EU or through agreements within the framework of regional fisheries management systems. The Council also discussed fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and Black Seas from 2020, following the implementation of a multi-annual plan for demersal (bottom-dwelling) species in the Western Mediterranean. The final political agreement is based on the Commission’s initial proposal, which takes into account the best available scientific advice, the main objectives of the basic CFP regulation and the multiannual management plans.

What is happening now?

The regulations must be reviewed by the Council’s legal linguists, then formally adopted by the Council at a future meeting and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. These regulations will come into force again from 1 January 2023.

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