Last week’s trilateral agreement between the EU, Norway and the UK presents an opportunity to correct the errors in the EU North Sea Herring allocation that were made in 2020 when the TCA was first implemented, and which cost the Danish fishing sector herring worth €5 million.
An error in the EU Commission’s allocation key since the UK’s departure from the EU resulted in a shortfall of 6000 tonnes of North Sea herring that should have gone to Danish pelagic and small-scale fishermen.
‘The new agreement opens the door for setting things straight,’ according to the Danish Pelagic PO.
‘It is very positive that the parties have finally agreed on a new management plan for herring. For years we have waited for this. Now the industry can look into the future knowing with confidence that our activities are sustainable and our fishing opportunities more stable,’ said DPPO CEO Esben Sverdrup-Jensen.
‘Since 2020 we have questioned the allocation of North Sea herring. Now the EU Commission has finally disclosed its calculations. It is clear to everyone that in the midst of Brexit chaos a grave mistake was made, breaking almost 40 years of fair and transparent sharing. This week’s Council Meeting is the perfect opportunity to correct the wrong and compensate the Member State that since 2020 has been short-changed.’
The agreement paves the way for correcting the flawed EU herring allocation methods which due to a simple error in EU Commission’s 2020 calculation, have resulted in a lack of proportionality between individual Member States’ quota shares and a divergence from the relative stability between EU-27 member states agreed in 1983.
‘It’s fair to make an honest mistake, but it is even more fair to own up to your mistakes and correct them,’ commented Kenn Skau Fischer, CEO of Danish FPO.
‘We expect the EU Commission to do just that this week.’
