As per the press communiqué released by the European Commission it is stated that the Commission has tabled its proposal on fishing possibilities for fish stocks in the Black Sea for 2011. The scientific advice points to the poor state of the two stocks concerned, turbot and sprat. This has prompted the Commission to suggest cuts in these stocks.
Since the stocks of the turbot is not improving and continues to be very low and strongly overfished the scientist advised to keep exploitation at the lowest possible level in order to allow the stock to recover. Based on this advice the Commission is proposing a 25 percent reduction in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), from 96t to 70t. For sprat, scientific evidence leads the Commission to propose a 25 percent reduction of the TAC, from 12 750t to 9 563t.
Te Commission said that the proposal will be discussed at the December Fisheries Council. Given the significant international dimension of fisheries in the Black Sea, the Commission is putting strong emphasis on the development of a regional approach to fisheries management in this region.
