Spanish fishing vessels. (Photo: Stock File)

Spanish associations request European ministers stability in fishing quotas

SPAIN
Wednesday, December 13, 2017, 00:20 (GMT + 9)

The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) has asked the European Union (EU) to ensure the stability of the European fishing sector in the allocation of TACs and fishing quotas for 2018, which will be decided at the meeting of the European Council of Ministers.

According to the Spanish organization, the EU must take into account the achievement of social, economic and employment objectives of the sector and should not "get obsessed" about the immediate environmental sustainability, as, according to CEPESCA, it seems its only priority.

In this regard, the association recalls that the objective of the common fisheries policy (CFP) is to combine all these factors in addition to ensuring the seafood supply to the European population.

CEPESCA, which advocates achieving the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) of fish stocks by 2020, recalls that in recent years the management measures adopted have led to a considerable decline in fishing effort and fishing mortality, which has made it possible to recover the stock biomass. In fact, it recalls that according to the European Commission itself, now 44 stocks are fished at the MSY level, compared to five in 2009.

The EC proposal for 2018 advocates increasing or maintaining the quotas of 53 populations and reducing them to 25.

Facing the meeting that is being held in Brussels, the Spanish association requests that for the fleet of non-Spanish EU waters (west of Scotland, waters of Ireland and the Bay of Biscay), the current quotas are maintained or a decrease of 3.7 per cent, in the case of Northern hake, in accordance with the criteria of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to achieve the MSY in 2018, compared to the proposed reduction of 19 per cent. CEPESCA remembers that the catches and the biomass are in the highest levels of the series.

As regards the monkfish, it requests the maintenance of quotas, as opposed to the 12 per cent reduction proposal, since the biomass and recruitment indices show a great interannual variability without a clear trend. Finally, regarding the megrim, it requests an increase of 9 per cent, compared to the 10 per cent decrease, given the current abundance of the stock and the growth of the spawning biomass.

As regards the Iberian waters (Cantabrian-North-West and the Gulf of Cadiz), CEPESCA asks to maintain the southern hake quota compared to the 30 per cent reduction proposal; increase the quota of the horse mackerel of the Gulf of Cádiz or maintain it, against the decrease of 24 per cent; keep that of the anchovy, being the most important species for purse seiners in this area, which could be affected by the foreseeable reduction of the sardine and by what happens with the horse mackerel.

Regarding the monkfish of the North-West Cantabrian and Gulf of Cadiz, the association asks to maintain the quota, compared to a decrease of 2 per cent. For the Cantabrian Northwest Norway lobster, it requests that some catches be allowed against the TAC 0 and recalls that the ICES report does not reflect the results of the latest IEO survey, which yields higher catches per unit of effort (CPUE). Finally, and regarding the Nephrops in the Gulf of Cadiz, it requests 100 tonnes for the Functional Unit (UF) 30, following the recommendation of the ICES.

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