EU countries agree on fishing quotas for the North Sea and North Atlantic

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The EU states have agreed on fishing quotas for the North Sea and the North Atlantic for the coming year.

Because of the Brexit uncertainty, however, these are only provisional quotas for the first three months until March, as Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) said on Thursday after two-day negotiations in Brussels.

"Our agreement on provisional quotas is the guarantee for our European fishermen that they will be able to continue fishing from January 1st." Klöckner spoke of "long and difficult negotiations".

The German Fisheries Association welcomed the preliminary agreement.

"That was important so that the fishermen can continue to work in the new year," said the association.

The main fishing season for stocks of mackerel, blue whiting and horse mackerel is in the first quarter.

A quota of 65 percent of the 2020 catch for the months up to March 2021 has therefore been agreed.

EU Environment Commissioner disappointed with catch quotas

Otherwise, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, German fishermen are allowed to catch a quarter of the total amount by 2020 of the important North Sea stocks by March.

For herring this is 9,851 tons, for plaice 1294 tons and for saithe 2079 tons.

The value for cod is 396 tons and for haddock 225 tons.

For mackerel and blue whiting, for which higher quotas apply, this is 14,050 and 12,592 tonnes respectively.

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The negotiations on the catch quotas are traditionally competitive.

In addition to the North Sea and the Atlantic, it was also about the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The most difficult negotiations were probably the western Mediterranean with the affected countries Italy, France and Spain, said Klöckner.

Ultimately, a "balanced compromise" was agreed, according to which the fishing effort should be reduced by 7.5 percent in the coming year.

That was not enough for EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius.

The Lithuanian said he was disappointed that the ministers had not taken more account of the scientific recommendations for larger cuts.

The negotiations this year were overshadowed by the ongoing Brexit talks between the EU and Great Britain.

It is unclear to what extent fishermen from EU countries such as Germany and France will have access to British territorial waters at all from January.

Therefore the results are only preliminary.

EU talks with Norway about jointly fished stocks are still pending.

Sinkevicius had promised that the EU Commission would present a new assessment of the situation in January, said Klöckner.

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"It is good that the ministers have found at least a temporary solution so that we can continue fishing from January 2021," said the chairman of the Association of German Cutter and Coastal Fishermen, Dirk Sander.

"Now only the access to British and Norwegian waters has to be made clear, otherwise everything will be crowded in the North Sea and in Irish waters."

The meeting between Klöckner and her colleagues began on Tuesday morning.

The night of Thursday was negotiated.

Klöckner emphasized that sustainable management of the seas was important to the ministers.

“We want fish stocks that regenerate well.

At the same time, we keep an eye on the fact that fishing is of massive economic and identity-forming importance for some regions. "

"Fish must not become a bargaining chip"

The EU states set the total allowable catches for certain waters every year.

On this basis, the respective national catches are allocated to the individual countries by means of fixed distribution keys.

The negotiations are based on a proposal from the EU Commission, which is primarily based on recommendations from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

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Many fish stocks are in a rather poor condition.

It is therefore primarily a matter of reconciling the interests of the fishing industry with environmental concerns.

The environmental organization WWF explained that only long-term fixed and adhered catch quantities could end overfishing.

The declared aim of the negotiations was a balance between environmental protection and socio-economic issues, said WWF Germany fisheries expert, Stella Nemecky.

“Whether this has been successful for the stocks in the North Sea and the North-East Atlantic will only be shown when the Commission's assessment is available in January and the final agreement has been negotiated.” However, it is clear: “Fish as a common good is not allowed become a bargaining chip. "