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Scientific advice confirms Fisheries Commission fears
IP/03/1412
Link to alternate languages DN: IP/03/1412
Fisheries: new scientific advice confirms Commission's fears on state of key fish stocks
20th October 2003
The first indications from the scientific advice released by the independent International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) confirm the need for the recovery measures proposed by the European Commission to ensure the rebuilding of a number of endangered fish stocks. ICES advice is rather stark for a number of stocks including cod in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Eastern Channel, Irish Sea and West of Scotland for which ICES advises zero catch.
Its advice is the same for whiting in the Irish Sea. In the case of hake from Ireland down to Portugal, ICES recommends rebuilding plans and zero catch for the southern hake stock. Rebuilding plans are also advised for plaice in the North Sea, cod and plaice in the Celtic Sea and sole in the western Channel and Bay of Biscay. It is not all bad news, however. Some stocks such as North Sea haddock, mackerel and saithe are, according to ICES, in a more healthy condition.
The issues that the Commission will discuss with the fisheries sector at the end of October will include ways of allowing continued fisheries on stocks that are in a more healthy state but that are caught along with endangered ones. One example is North Sea haddock whose catches include by-catches of cod, which is currently an endangered stock. The advice can be found on the Internet at http://www.ices.dk
Commenting on this advice, Commissioner Franz Fischler, in charge of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, said: “The latest ICES advice vindicates the approach taken by the Commission in proposing tough measures to reverse stock depletion. We will now study this advice with great care. The Commission will continue its dialogue with the industry as it prepares its proposals for next year's TACs and quotas. A meeting has already been organised with fishermen's representatives on 28-29 October in Brussels.”
The Commission proposed revised recovery plans for cod and northern hake a few months ago. The initial plan had been submitted to the Council in December 2001. The Commission will shortly propose recovery plans for certain sole stocks and for Southern stocks, including hake. ICES advice starkly demonstrates the need and urgency for such plans.
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