The European Commission recently adopted a proposal for fishing opportunities for the Black Sea for 2010. The Commission proposes a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 76 tonnes for turbot, a 25% reduction compared to 2009, and a TAC of 12,750 tonnes for sprat, unchanged from 2009. These proposals are based on advice from two working groups of leading fisheries scientists from the Black Sea Region, and from the Commission''s own Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) which has reviewed the working groups'' reports.
The Commission says that the proposal aims towards long-term sustainable exploitation of fish stocks in the Black Sea and can be seen as a continuation of the measures applicable for 2008 and 2009.
The TAC of 12,750 tonnes for sprat won't be allocated per quotas, while the TAC of 76 tonnes for turbot would be equally divided between Bulgaria and Romania. The proposal also sets out technical measures to assist in the recovery of the turbot fishery. The minimum mesh size permitted in this fishery has now been set at 400 mm and the phasing-out period that allowed the use of smaller nets to give the fleet time to adjust has now expired. The fishing season for turbot shall be closed from 15 April to 15 June, and the minimum landing size for turbot remains unchanged at 45cm.
In order to reduce discards, the practice of high-grading for any species subjected to quota will be banned.
