In a move that brings the European Union into line with its North Atlantic neighbours, European ministers have agreed revised mackerel targets that have already attracted criticism from some quarters.
The EU had initially adhered to the 70% reduction recommended by ICES – while Norway, the UK, Iceland and the Faroe Islands struck a deal that aimed for a 48% reduction in mackerel catches. There has been a fraught situation for some months since the deal excluding the EU was reached.
This latest development brings the EU into line with other North Atlantic nations around a fishery that has been the subject of intense wrangling in recent years and a long saga of coastal states setting their own unilateral quotas – and the EU has until now been the exception in declining to go its own way.
‘The EU has been the only party consistently raising concerns about the need to respect the scientific advice provided by ICES and to limit the overfishing by Russia,’ a European Commission representative commented.
