Spain, Portugal and France propose to define fishing possibilities in the EU for several years – Economy
Spain, Portugal and France proposed this Sunday in Brussels that they begin to set total permissible catches and fishing quotas in European Union waters for several years, with the aim of giving greater security to the sector.
The proposal was presented by the three Member States of the EU during the meeting of 27 Fisheries Ministers that began this Sunday in the Belgian capital and in which the fishing opportunities in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic for next year must be agreed, as is the case in every December, Efe reports.
Spain is confident that the multi-year Total Allowable Catch (TAC) formula can begin to be applied in the second half of 2023, when the country will assume authority over the bloc, with a view to fishing opportunities from 2024.
“What I would like, also depends on the scientific studies we have, is that for the year 2023 we can already make a council model (meeting of ministers) in December, of total permissible captures and quotas, which would be more permissible”, said the Spanish Minister of Fisheries, Luis Planas, before entering the meeting of the 27.
At first, the formula would be tested on some species in EU waters not shared with third countries. If the system proves viable, the idea is to expand it to more ‘stocks’ of fish.
“It doesn’t seem logical that all these debates that we have each year are about fishing as a whole,” said Planas.
He added that there is already “sufficient scientific knowledge” to be able to establish total permissible captures that can go up to three years, “of two or three years”.
This “is very important” from a business point of view, for “our shipowners and servants because we will certainly allow them to better plan their fishing activity”, he argued.
The regulator underlined that the document containing the proposal from Spain, France and Portugal suggests the “possibility that the unused quotas of one year can be used in successive years”.
During the meeting, Planas underlined that fishing opportunities and multi-annual quotas would allow “better organization” of the ministers’ work, in addition to helping the fisheries sector to plan its activity.
The EU itself already sets total multi-annual catches for some deep-sea species.
He recognized that establishing fishing opportunities for several years has “important” advantages and admitted that it also makes “more efficient” consultations on shared waters with the United Kingdom and Norway.
However, he warned that multi-year quotas cannot apply to all species and advocated testing the initiative with “non-overexploited” shared in non-shared EU waters.
Denmark, Belgium, Greece or Croatia were some of the countries that expressed their interest in the proposal from France, Spain and Portugal.