EU fisheries ministers agreed to sue stern measure to crack down on overfishing. It says that their fishermen would get points on their fishing licences each time they broke rules or quotas and would be banned for excessive infractions. It is informed that the points system, taking effect next year, is part of a drive to reduce excessive fishing which has severely depleted European stocks of cod, haddock and hake.
There will be new quotas for Baltic cod and herring and put on hold a controversial proposal that national tallies include fish landed by recreational anglers. The Ministers also cut the amount of overfishing that will be tolerated to 10 percent from 20. This decision has been criticized from a Green Europarliamentarian that this was accepting “legalised cheating,” though on a reduced scale.
After five serious infractions, they risk losing their licences permanently. Swedish Agriculture Minister Eskil Erlandsson, who chaired the meeting, said that the consumers must know that the fish for sale in the shops has been caught legally. EU countries that fail to enforce the new system could lose access to EU funds for overhauling their fisheries and could even have their quotas cut.
Ministers also agreed that cod fishing can be increased by between 9 and 15 percent in the Baltic Sea next year, after signs the stock was recovering there.
