The European Commission (EC) has proposed the first multi-annual plan for stocks of demersal fish (fish that live and feed near the bottom of the sea) in the North Sea.
The plan aims to ensure that stocks are fished at sustainable levels, improve the conservation of stocks, shift decision-making to the regional level, and increase the predictability of catches for fishermen in the long run.
This first comprehensive plan covers more than seventy per cent of the EU fishing sector (worth € 850 million in 2012), sets catch limits based on science and aims to improve fisheries’ control.
Healthy Levels of Fish Stocks
The multi-annual plan requires the EU to set catch limits that restore and maintain fish stocks above levels that can produce the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY), the greatest amount of fish that can be fished from the sea while maintaining healthy levels of fish stocks. The plan defines ranges for the catch limits which respect these conditions, and obliges the EU to take swift action when the sustainability of any demersal North Sea fish stock is threatened.
The Commission's proposal follows scientific advice from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) and from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES).
The Commission's proposal is now submitted for discussion to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
