Regulation
There is still a monitoring period for sand eel from 1 April to 6 May and this year a total quota of 200,000 tons for all countries has been set for the monitoring period.
The calculation formula has changed from previous years and the consequences of this are still unknown. Among other things, considerably more one-year-old sand eel need to be counted to produce the same quota as in 2009.
In 2009, 110 billion one-year-old sand eel would have resulted in a quota of 400,000 tons. In 2010, 200 billion are required for a quota of 400,000 tons.
In 2009, the biologists calculated a total of 130 billion one-year-old sand eel. Using the 2010 formula, this will result in a quota of just 147,000 tons.
Irrespective of the estimated number of one-year-old sand eel, the final quota will be maximum 400,000 tons between all countries and fishing has to stop at the end of July 2010.
Avoid bureaucratic stops
The cold winter may well delay the start of sand eel fishing and therefore reduce the number of samples forming the basis of the final quota. The fewer samples, the greater the (statistical) uncertainty of the quota calculation. It may therefore be necessary to extend the monitoring period.
Once again, I urge the authorities to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic stops to the sand eel fishing.
However, the dredging tests carried out look sensible and fortunately show that there are sand eel in the sea. Now it is merely a matter of getting the go-ahead to catch them.
The market
The market is driven principally by the demand for fishmeal in Asia and for North European fish feed production. The price of fishmeal measured in dollars remains historically high.
The rest of the market, including the agricultural sector, has problems paying the high fish meal prices and is therefore trading on a more ad hoc basis.
The market is also affected by the earthquake in Chile, which currently limits the export of fishmeal from that country, and the effect of an El Nino on future Peruvian fishing.
The supply of fishmeal is therefore expected to be limited in the coming months.
With these words, I wish everyone an excellent sand eel season.
