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Oceans and fisheries
News announcement17 December 2020Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

AGRIFISH Council: Ministers decide fishing opportunities for 2021 in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

Based on the Commission’s proposal, EU Fisheries Ministers today agreed fishing opportunities for 2021 for the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said:

In line with our political commitments made in the MedFish4Ever and Sofia Declarations, we implemented in EU law ambitious measures taken in the context of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). On the Western Mediterranean multiannual plan, I regret that Ministers were not ready to agree on higher effort reductions, which would have allowed us to restore the fish stocks to sustainable levels faster and to ensure the long-term social and economic viability of the fishermen and women operating in the region. I welcome, however, that the effort reduction will be accompanied by additional national measures to protect the stocks.

For the Mediterranean, the regulation agreed by Ministers continues the implementation of the EU multiannual management plan for demersal stocks in the Western Mediterranean, adopted in June 2019, by reducing the fishing effort by 7,5%. The regulation also introduces measures adopted by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean in 2018 and 2019, in particular measures for eel, red coral, dolphinfish, small pelagic species and demersal stocks in the Adriatic and deep water shrimps stocks in the Ionian Sea, Levant Sea and the Strait of Sicily. For the Black Sea, the quotas for turbot and sprat are maintained at the 2020 level.

More information

Mediterranean and Black Seas: Commission proposes fishing opportunities for 2021

Details

Publication date
17 December 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries