EU slashes North Sea fishing quotas

Overfishing threatens cod stocks, say scientists

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A 40 percent cut in catch quotas for North Sea fish has been agreed by European Union fisheries ministers in Brussels.

The accord follows warnings from scientists that over-fishing threatens the survival of cod and hake in waters around Britain.

The total North Sea cod catch will fall from 81,000 tonnes this year to 48,600 tonnes in 2001.

EU Farm and Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler said: "These are the most drastic cuts we've ever had since quotas were introduced."

But during 12 hours of talks British fisheries minister Elliot Morley negotiated less severe reductions for other species.

The cuts will reduce the catch of hake in waters from northern Spain to the mouth of the Baltic Sea to 22,600 tonnes, from 42,000 tonnes.

However, due in part to intense lobbying by Spain, the catch will more than double that originally proposed by the EU executive body.

Morley said: "This was an exceptionally difficult fisheries council, but with some stocks like North Sea cod on the verge of collapse urgent action has to be taken and large cuts were inevitable."

But industry representatives said the deal was disastrous. Barry Deas, head of Britain's National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, said: "It looks like a terrible outcome.

North Sea cod numbers have fallen to dangerous levels

"We may have reduced the cuts in some areas but we came from an appalling starting point. The European Commission has ignored the science and the impact on industry."

The Commission had said that because cod is caught by vessels trawling for a variety of fish, cuts in total allowable catch (TAC) for other species were needed to rebuild stocks.

Fischler said he was satisfied by a "balanced" agreement, which also put in place a strategy involving the control of mesh sizes in nets to allow stocks to grow.

"I am perfectly happy we managed to agree the drastic cuts and at the same time a multi-annual programme to insure that stocks recover," he said.

North Sea cod numbers have been falling steadily since record-keeping began in 1963.

EU officials say there are now some 70,000 tonnes of adult cod in the area -- compared to 250,000 tonnes in 1970 -- which is about half the minimum that scientists say is needed to guarantee the survival of the species.

Scottish trawlers have recently managed to catch only around 60 percent of their annual North Sea cod quota, simply because they could not find the fish, EU officials say.

And it is not just the North Sea that has problems. The permitted catch for the northern hake stock, in waters north of the Bay of Biscay, will be cut from 42,000 to 22,600 tonnes, although this was higher than the commission's proposal of a reduction to just 11,000 tonnes.

Ministers are scheduled to meet again next month to consider other protection measures. Those might include setting up "no-fishing" zones where cod are spawning, limiting the number of days trawlers can set to sea and compensating fishermen for taking their boats out of service.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Scot fishermen in dismay over EU cod plan
December 1, 2000
Popularity of cod fillets creates financial, ecological concerns for U.K.
November 29, 2000

The European Commission - Fisheries
UK Ministry of Fishing

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