Fisheries discard ban: Commission proposes plans for the North Sea

Today the Commission adopted a plan to reduce the wasteful practice of discarding – throwing overboard unwanted fish – in the North Sea. This discard plan concerns demersal fisheries, i.e. fish that feed on or near the sea bottom, and is a temporary measure to phase out discarding and gradually …

NAFO enhances the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs)

The European Commission welcomes the decisions during the 37th annual meeting of NAFO (North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, 21-25 September 2015, Halifax, Canada), which contain a strong commitment of its Contracting Parties to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, by adopting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for a number of stocks taking due account …

Commission proposes Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2016: more stocks than ever before to be fished at sustainable levels

The European Commission today tabled its proposal on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2016. This is the annual proposal for the amount of fish that EU fishermen may catch from the Baltic Sea’s 10 main commercial fish stocks, also known as Total Allowable Catch (TAC). What is new …

Seminar “State of Fish Stocks and the Economics of Fishing Fleets”

The annual seminar “State of Fish Stocks and the Economics of Fishing Fleets” organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) took place at the European Commission premises on the 14th July 2015. The event was chaired by Director General for DG MARE, Lowri Evans. …

Positive state of ICES fish stocks presented to European Commission

Today, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) delivered an overview of the status of a host of fish and shellfish stocks across the Northeast Atlantic for which the organization has provided advice on this year. The Chair of ICES Advisory Committee, Eskild Kirkegaard, presented the information …