14 Dec 2007 - Fishing quotas
for 2008 in European waters will be decided
by the EU Fisheries Council in Brussels on
17-19 December 2007. WWF calls on EU Ministers
to put an end to the now traditional end of
year horse-trading and to agree on sustainable
harvesting of fishery resources, in line with
scientific advice.
NORTH SEA COD
2008 will be a critical year for North Sea
cod as the stock is experiencing the first
signs of potential recovery. It is the first
time since 2002 that scientists from ICES
(the International Council for the Exploration
of the Sea) have not called for a zero quota
on the stock.
But real recovery will only occur if EU Ministers
substantially cut the number of days at sea
and adopt concrete measures to secure avoidance
of cod (taken as bycatch).
Currently EU Fisheries Ministers plan to
increase quotas for North Sea cod by 11 per
cent, which will allow fleets to land up to
about 22,000 tonnes of cod. WWF is against
the quota rise.
Without clear measures to avoid catching
juveniles, the quota rise will only result
in increasing the number of young fish removed
from the sea and continue high levels of discarding.
To put an end to this waste and help fishermen
avoid non-targeted cod where possible, EU
Ministers must agree on and implement substantial
measures. These include closure of key spawning
areas, real time closures where juveniles
are found, more selective gears to allow cod
to escape and observers onboard to monitor
operations.
In a new paper, “Hook, line and sinker”,
WWF shows that declining cod stocks have been
poorly managed in the past in both Europe
and Canada. In both cases, decision-makers
chose to cash-in on the early signs of recovery,
with the result of further deterioration of
the stocks. Will we see history repeated in
2008?
“Europe cannot afford to repeat the mistakes
of the past by fishing cod at the first signs
of recovery. EU Ministers should remember
what happened in the North Sea in 1997-1998,
when the cod population increased but was
then swiftly fished out leaving the species
in a state of near collapse,” says Carol Phua,
WWF Fisheries Policy Officer.
“EU Ministers and the European Commission
have to wake up: what is at stake at the Fisheries
Council next week is cod’s survival in the
North Sea.”
IRISH CORAL REEFS
The EU Fisheries Council will also be decisive
in the survival of cold-water coral reefs
in waters west of Ireland. Located at between
400 and 1,600 meters deep, they support a
wealth of marine wildlife, including commercial
fish stocks. However they are extremely vulnerable
to bottom trawling and other destructive fishing
gear. In certain areas of the North-East Atlantic,
up to 50% of the reefs have been reported
to be damaged or lost already.
In 2006, the Irish government proposed the
inclusion of four sites at Porcupine Bank
and Bight - an area of approximately 2,500
square km - in the Natura 2000 network of
European protected areas. To protect these
ecosystems, the European Commission has recommended
an overall fishing ban in the area for all
EU fleets. WWF urges European Fisheries Ministers
to confirm the ban.
“There is no scope for bargain. EU Ministers
must not loose the momentum and take action
now to prevent cold-water coral reefs, a real
deep sea treasure, from being smashed to smithereens
forever”, said Stephan Lutter, WWF International
Marine Policy Officer.
Caroline Alibert, WWF European Policy Office
