Proposal for a Council Regulation fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters

Summary:

Legislative initiative published by the European Commission in October 2019 concerning the 2020 catch limits for the main commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic, the North Sea and international fisheries in which EU vessels participate.

Further information:

All fishing opportunities regulations must limit the harvesting of the fish stocks to levels that must be consistent with the overall objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). In this respect, Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 sets out the objectives for the annual proposals for catch and fishing effort limitations to ensure that Union fisheries are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable. The fishing opportunities exercise represents an annual management cycle (biennial in the case of deep-sea stocks). However, this does not stand in the way of the introduction of long-term management approaches.

This proposal contains fishing opportunities that the Union establishes autonomously. However, it also features fishing opportunities resulting from multilateral or bilateral fisheries consultations. Thus, this proposal covers, apart from autonomous Union stocks:

• Shared stocks, i.e. stocks that are jointly managed with Norway in the North Sea and the Skagerrak, or related to North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Coastal State consultations;
• Fishing opportunities resulting from agreements reached in the framework of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs).

The proposal was put forward by the European Commission on 24 October 2019. The Council of the European Union reached an agreement on the fishing opportunities on 18 December.

Official

Council of the European Union: Press Release,18/12/2019: 2020 fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, North and the Mediterranean Seas: Council secures agreement https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/12/18/2020-fishing-opportunities-in-the-atlantic-north-and-the-mediterranean-seas-council-secures-agreement/

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News

The Independent, 18/12/2019: EU ministers vote to allow overfishing despite legal deadline to heed scientists’ advice https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/eu-fishing-quota-overfishing-common-fisheries-policy-cod-legal-2020-a9252276.html

The Guardian, 18/12/2019: EU ministers opt to continue overfishing, despite 2020 deadline https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/18/eu-ministers-opt-to-continue-overfishing-despite-2020-deadline

BBC News, 18/12/2019: Brussels fish talks: New quotas will see cod landings cut by half https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50833694

RTÉ News, 18/12/2019: Agreement reached on new fishing quotas https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/1218/1101854-fishing/

Euronews, 19/12/2019: EU fish quota quarrel - ministers hail deal, NGOs slam overfishing https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/18/symfwnia-ypourgwn-eu-gia-alieymata

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