Report | April, 2010
Fishing opportunities for the European Community Fleet in the North East Atlantic for 2010
In October 2009, the European Commission presented its proposal for total admissible catch (TAC) and fishing effort for 2010 for the main fish species targeted by the Community fleet in the North East Atlantic. The EU Council of Fisheries Ministers will decide the fishing opportunities based on this proposal between December 14 and 16.
TACs and quotas per country are the principal conservation instruments of the Common Fisheries Policy.
In this document, Oceana presents the conservation status of the main species, analyses TAC proposals presented by the European Commission and makes a series of recommendations about the catch volumes it considers adequate for each species.
Oceana hopes the Fisheries Council will take these recommendations into account and that they may serve as a general overview for anyone interested in knowing the state of the resources, helping them evaluate the management measures currently being developed.
There is no doubt that the fisheries context is complex and, perhaps due to this complexity, the tendency to present general figures that attempt to synthesize a multitude of realities is sometimes criticised. This year, the European Commission pointed out that over 80% of fishing resources are currently overexploited.
By analysing the conservation status of each species in the different areas of interest for the Community fleet, this document confirms their general, extensive and serious state of overexploitation. Oceana hopes the EU will take the necessary measures to reverse this situation. The Council meeting in December seems like a good opportunity to begin working towards this objective.
