Wednesday

27th Sep 2023

EU's 2021 fishing quotas to exceed scientific advice

  • Brussels will not follow scientific advice against over-fishing for at least the first quarter of 2021 on fish stocks shared with the UK (Photo: Fredrik Ohlander)

EU fisheries ministers agreed on Thursday (17 December) on fishing opportunities for 2021 for the stocks managed by the EU, and provisional quotas for those stocks shared with the UK - pending on the outcome of Brexit negotiations.

Following two days of negotiations, the European Council agreed on catch limits for over 200 commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and, the deep-sea.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

However, some of these quotas are still above sustainable limits issued by scientific bodies, increasing the risk of further over-exploitation of fish stocks.

For the fish stocks managed exclusively by the EU, approximately one-third are considered to be above the sustainable limits provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

These include the southern hake, and sole in the west of Ireland, and pollack in the Bay of Biscay.

Additionally, EU ministers also decided to set out by-catch quotas for roundnose grenadier and cod in the Kattegat, ignoring the ICES' advice about the need to stop fishing these species because of their poor conservation status.

The ministers' decision to continue overfishing in Europe's own waters is "shameful," said Rebecca Hubbard from NGO Our Fish.

"Whilst EU leaders are running around signing pledges, waxing lyrical about revolutionising our relationship with nature and taking climate action, EU fisheries ministers have signed off on another year of overfishing," she added.

Meanwhile, ministers also decided to water down the commission proposal for reducing demersal, or seabed, fishing in the Mediterranean Sea from 15 percent to just 7.5 percent - as part of the commitment for an overall reduction of up to 40 percent by 2025.

EU commissioner for oceans and environment, Virginijus Sinkevičius, regretted that national ministers "were not ready to fully take into account the scientific advice and agree on more ambitious effort reductions" that would have helped to restore the fish stocks to sustainable levels.

Brexit excuses

For the remaining fish stocks shared with the UK, the provisional quotas include a 25 percent roll-over of the existing 2020 fishing opportunities for the first three months of 2021 - ensuring continuity in fishing despite Brexit .

"The EU's fleet has suffered from the Covid-19 crisis and is facing uncertainty due to still ongoing EU-UK negotiations. But we also needed to give our fishermen and women a perspective beyond 2021," said Sinkevičius.

The agreed measures would complement last week's EU commission contingency proposal in case there is no deal.

While this rollover is a temporary measure, many of the provisional limits are still too high.

As a result, ministers will have to apply significant cuts after March 2021 to ensure that sustainable levels are met by the end of the year.

Given that the position of the UK is still unclear, the agreement raises questions about how shares will be reallocated retrospectively after March 2021.

"While I understand the need for pragmatic measures to set preliminary TACs [Total Allowable Catches or quotas] for 2021, this should not be an excuse for ignoring scientific advice to avoid overfishing", said Rainer Froese, a marine biologist at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany.

"A rollover approach that leads to overfishing in the first quarter will be difficult to reverse later on," he warned.

For his part, the director of the Centre for Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries at Agrocampus Ouest, Didier Gascuel, called it "unacceptable" that Brussels is proposing to not follow the scientific advice for at least the first quarter of 2021.

"For some stocks, it will be too late, with detrimental effects on fish populations, fishers and marine ecosystems," he said.

Fisheries is one of the critical issues in the negotiations on a new partnership agreement between the EU and the UK.

Fish complicates last push for post-Brexit deal

"If the UK wants a deal here, there's a deal to be done. If the UK wants to use fish as an excuse not to have a deal, then that could happen too," Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney warned.

EU failed to end overfishing by 2020: lost opportunity?

Environmentalists denounce that the EU failed to comply with the legal obligation to end overfishing by 2020, putting at risk the sustainability of fish stocks by putting the interests of the fishing industry ahead of the health of its waters.

Magazine

EU fish wars ahoy

EU seas will contain "more" and "bigger" fish five years from now - if the fisheries committee does its job. But rows on post-Brexit rights could grab attention.

Feature

How Italy's passion for fish is destroying its seas

This is bad news for all countries in the area, but especially Italy, which has the largest fleet in the EU by number of vessels. Many coastal towns and the welfare of hundreds of thousands of Italians depend on fishing.

EU unveils roadmap to green maritime activities

The European Commission unveiled new rules to green economic activities at sea, which employ more than four million people in the bloc. These include tightening ship-recycling rules and new targets to restore damaged marine ecosystems.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  2. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  3. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  4. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  5. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  6. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  7. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?
  8. IEA says: Go green now, save €11 trillion later

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us