The European Union has stated that it leads effort for stock recovery while securing 70% of fishing quotas for Mediterranean swordfish.
During the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting in Madrid from 20th to 22th February this year, agreement was reached among the commission’s contracting parties on the allocation of fishing quotas for Mediterranean swordfish as part of an agreement under the recovery plan for this species put forward by the European Commission and adopted by ICCAT last year.
‘This signals a strong will to co-operate to end overfishing and share responsibility for the Mediterranean Sea governance,’ the EU Commission states.
The recovery plan is applicable for the next fifteen years, covering the whole of the Mediterranean Sea and involves all operators, including sport and recreational fishing, and non-EU countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Turkey.
The European Union was able to secure more than 70% of the overall Mediterranean swordfish TAC, totalling over 7400 tonnes for 2017.
‘The quota assigned to the EU is a fair reflection of the catch levels registered in the past 25 years and takes into account socio-economic, compliance and conservation aspects,’ the EU Commission announced, stating that the accord reached in Madrid will contribute with immediate effect to the early recovery of the Mediterranean swordfish.
