The emergency closure of anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay (from July to October) was extended to 31 December by a decision of the EU Commission in mid-September and came up for intense debate at the fisheries council of ministers (19-20 September) reports Peter O''Neill.
Some estimates suggest that 90 per cent of the Biscay catch is taken by Spanish fishermen and there have been press reports saying that the Spanish government welcomed the continued closure. Anchovy is also an important mainstay of Spanish cuisine and local retail jobs could be hit with South American sources making market inroads.
The French have been making noises about it since mid-summer, asking for any closure to be restricted to specific Biscay spawning areas. Council officials said money has already been paid out to help affected French and Spanish fishermen but they said the French told the meeting they want more closure money for affected fishermen. The French also said the closure of sub area VIII was hitting other catches in the same area. In addition they wanted extra money (upping it from 18 per cent of total cost to 40 per cent) for the storage of white tuna to which more and more anchovy fishermen are switching because of the anchovy closure.
Council officials said the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) wants an anchovy closure through to July 2006. Brussels says it foresees zero total allowable catch (TAC) for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay until "independent and reliable data on the state of the stock become available". The Commission will report back in December. Despite their differences French and Spanish scientists are planning joint scientific stock assessments.
Back in May, a Commission statement said that its Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF), had said Biscay anchovy stock was "well below biological safe levels and that the quantities of young fish joining the stock this year is far lower than ever observed before".
A statement added that scientists say "the number of young fish joining the stock in the past two years has been extremely low. As a result, this year's catches were very poor and predominantly made up of older fish". The Council had set the catch at 33,000 tonnes in 2004, reduced it to 30,000 for 2005 then closed the fishery mid-year.
Fuel and future catches
There is growing concern about the future of the fishing industry and the livelihoods of fishermen and their communities. The Council was told by fisheries commissioner Borg about the "precarious economic situation of a substantial part of the European fishing fleet, which has been compounded by the hike in fuel prices", officials said. Borg, they added, had highlighted the "fragility" of the industry but he believes the sector has a future if it can be helped through a restructuring process aimed at reaching a better balance between the fleets and the fish resources that can safely be removed from the sea.
Officials said there was a discussion among ministers on future quotas and catches and suggestions from the Commission included promotion of less-fuel intensive types of fishing, as well as help for switching to new gear. But Borg told ministers that current EU, so-called de minimis, financial support, of €3,000 over three years for a given company, was just not enough.
Plaice & coldwater coral
Earlier, on 13 September, the Commission decided to continue restricted access to the Shetland and Plaice Boxes "pending further evaluation" officials said.
For the Shetland Box measures will stand for a further three years. No date has been set for the Plaice Box because stock evaluation research plans have not been finalised.
Ministers also agreed unanimously to protect deep-water coral reefs from what they called the effects of fishing in certain areas of the Atlantic. A Council statement said the regulation prohibits vessels from using any gillnet, entangling net or trammel net at depths greater than 200 metres and any bottom trawl or similar towed nets operating in contact with the bottom of the sea in the areas around the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands.
Comoros tuna
The Council has also provisionally approved a deal with the Comoros on fishing running from 2005 to 2010 (the French, Spanish and Portuguese delegations abstained). A Council statement the agreement will allow tuna seiners (40 vessels from Spain, France and Italy) and surface longliners (17 from Spain and Portugal) to fish the water for an annual catch of 6,000 tonnes of tuna. In return the Comoros will receive €2.34 million over the six years.
