At this time of year, French fishermen are deeply concerned about the approach taken by the Council of Fisheries Ministers, which sets out TACs and quotas. This year, their concerns are all the more acute as the European Commission's proposals for TACs and quotas of 2017 leave them angry and struggling to understand the Council’s reasoning.
Norway and the EU have agreed mutual access for fishing Atlanto-Scandian herring and blue whiting in each others’ zones in 2017, and the agreement gives the Norwegian fleet increased access to blue whiting in EU waters next year.
The UK’s two main representative organisations for commercial fishermen – the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) and the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) – have agreed upon common principles to ensure the best possible deal for coastal communities in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
MEPs have voted to remove days at sea for North Sea cod fisheries and the European Parliament claims that the relaxation of this measure will remove all obstacles to complying in full with the landing obligation.
Brittany’s fishing sector is nervous about the implications for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
New Zealand’s Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy has announced a temporary closure of shellfish and seaweed harvesting along the earthquake-affected east coast of the South Island, and a NZ$2 million package to investigate the impact of the earthquakes on these fisheries.
The 35TH Annual Meeting of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) was held in London last week, and conservation and management measures for the year 2017 were adopted for a number of fish stocks. These include blue whiting, herring, mackerel, redfish in the Irminger Sea and Rockall haddock.
Nations bordering the Black Sea have unanimously backed a declaration setting out their commitment to tackling the challenges faced by fisheries and aquaculture. This is the region’s first ever consensus on promoting rational exploitation of marine resources, sustainable aquaculture, opposition to illegal practices and mitigation of threats to the marine environment.
For the second time in a few days, Australian Border Force (ABF) and Maritime Border Command (MBC) have retrieved lost fishing gear, this time from the Timor Sea roughly 150 nautical miles NNW of Darwin.
Icelandic processors’ organisation SFÚ (Samtök fiskframleiðenda og útflytjenda), which represents independent processors and exporters, was held last week and chairman Jón Steinn Elíasson was re-elected. SFÚ also took a firm stance at its AGM on the current threat of strike action by fishermen, backing the fishermen in their demands.
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