Constant EU Overfishing Threatens 80 Percent of Stocks
Date: 08-Jun-07
Country: BELGIUM
For years now, scientists have warned that unless fishing activities are reduced -- or in some cases, stopped altogether -- many species in European waters risk extinction. Cod is a prime example, particularly in the North Sea.
Each December, EU ministers haggle with experts from the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, on national quotas for the next year. The quotas are allocated from an EU-wide total allowable catch, or TAC.
In a report outlining the current state of EU fish stocks, the Commission said the number of different fish stocks deemed at risk had remained roughly the same between 2003 and 2007, with about 80 percent of them "outside safe biological limits".
"This is unsurprising, since the TACs adopted (by EU ministers) ... have been substantially higher than those recommended by scientists, by an average of between 42 and 57 percent," it said.
"This situation is aggravated by the fact that a number of TACs are, in practice, consistently overshot," it added.
Outlining the broad principles of its quota proposals for 2008, for the most threatened stocks like west Scotland cod, the Commission said it might go beyond its usual policy of not varying TACs by more than 15 percent -- and cut them by more.
For other species, less at risk from overfishing, annual TAC reductions would not be higher than 15 percent, it said. In some cases, where fish numbers were actually increasing thanks to long-term recovery plans -- like Bay of Biscay sole, North Sea haddock -- the proposed 2007 catches might be higher, it added.
The Commission will issue TAC and quota proposals for Baltic Sea stocks in September, and those for other stocks in November.