Five proposals on a range of fisheries issues were adopted by the Council meeting in June.
These include measures for the recovery of the European eel stock, the international recovery plan for bluefin tuna, and a management plan for plaice and sole in the North Sea.
The Council also adopted a regulation governing the introduction of alien species into European waters for aquaculture purposes, and another to provide additional funding for the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs).
European eel
Under the new regulation, each Member State must submit to the Commission, by 31 December 2008, a national Eel Management Plan that outlines the measures that it will take in order to achieve the objective of 40% escapement of silver eel (adults) from inland waters to the sea and to spawning grounds.
Member States that catch glass eel (juvenile) will set aside 60% of their annual catch for restocking of European inland waters so as to increase escapement of adult eel to the sea. This 60% will be phased in gradually by 2013.
Bluefin tuna
Council adopted the Commission’s proposal which provides for the provisional transposition into European law of the multi-annual recovery plan for bluefin tuna as recommended by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) last November. This amendment also establishes a definitive quota of 16,779.55 tonnes for the EU fishery on bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
North Sea flat fish
A multi-annual plan for the management of plaice and sole in the North Sea was adopted. The plan will manage plaice together with sole, as the two species are caught together, particularly in the beam trawl fisheries.
The plan establishes parameters for the joint management of these species in a two-step approach: it will first bring the stocks within safe biological limits, before going on to a level corresponding to Maximum Sustainable Yield in the long term.
RACs
The Council adopted an amendment to the legal basis of Regional Advisory Councils, which will revise the RACs’ legal basis so as to increase the amount of EU funding which they currently receive. Under the new provisions, EU funding will become a stable annual commitment covering up to 90% of their costs, rather than being phased out after five years. The annual allocation per RAC will be EUR 250,000.
Alien species in aquaculture
The new Council Regulation adopted will regulate the introduction of non-native species in aquaculture to prevent negative impacts on the surrounding environment.
