The European Commission (EC) has launched a proposal for a long-term management plan for plaice and sole fisheries in the North Sea. The plan is aimed to gradually reduce fishing mortality, which is expected to decrease 10 per cent year on year, on sole and plaice from its current levels to 0,85 to 0,3 respectively.
The measures will also involve annual variation in Total Allowable Catches (TACs) that will be kept within 15 per cent up or down “in order to minimise short-term economic disruption,” says a statement for the EC.
Other regulations will be set in relation with fishing days and specific control and monitoring measures.
According to the Commission the plan is designed to gradually adjust the fishing on these stocks to achieve greater catches, larger and more stable stocks of fish and more profitable fisheries.
Sole fisheries provide most of the income in the North Sea beam trawl fishery, but result in large by-catches of plaice and whiting, most of which are discarded. The EC says that scientific studies show that under better stock conditions, the same quantity of sole could be caught with roughly half the current fishing effort. This would be good for the associated species subject to high discard rates – in particular, for plaice – and it would be good for the economics of the fishery, particularly since the fleets concerned consume high quantities of fuel.
European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Joe Borg, said: “This proposal aims to optimise the economic returns of the sector through securing the sustainability of the plaice and sole fisheries concerned. It also consolidates our long-term approach which allows for gradual implementation of better fisheries management”.
The plan still has to be approved by the Council and the Parliament and will not be implemented until 2007.
