EU fisheries ministers have agreed fishing opportunities for 2023 for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, which include new catch limits for Mediterranean species with a high commercial value.
European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius welcomed the agreement, saying that it showed that the EU and member states remain committed to improving the state of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
“This agreement translates the success of the adoption of the five new multiannual management plans (MAPs) by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) into our EU fishing opportunities,” Sinkevičius said.
“We are continuing with much needed effort reductions for trawlers under the EU western Mediterranean MAP and the management of deep-water shrimps through catch limits and we are also expanding the compensation mechanism to promote a better protection of juveniles and spawners, while rewarding fishers’ efforts in respect of increased selectivity. Together, we are making our fisheries more sustainable and helping our stocks to recover.”
For the western Mediterranean, the regulation continues the implementation of the EU MAP for demersal stocks, adopted in June 2019.
To achieve the goal of sustainable fisheries management (maximum sustainable yield – MSY) by 1 January 2025, the regulation makes use of all the management tools and other flexibility elements available under the plan.
It continues the reduction of the trawling fishing effort by 7%, combined with the implementation of additional management tools, such as catch limits for deep water shrimps and controlling the effort freeze for longliners.
Furthermore, in order to strengthen ecosystem resilience, the regulation expands the compensation mechanism introduced in 2022, granting 3.5% additional fishing days for trawlers. This provision rewards the use of more selective gears, the establishment of more efficient closure areas to protect juveniles and spawners, and greater use of minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) for the protection of juvenile hake.
The regulation also introduces, for the first time, catch limits to manage Mediterranean species with high commercial value, such as deep-water shrimp in the Strait of Sicily, the Ionian Sea and the Levant Sea.
There are also new fishing opportunities for several subregions of the Mediterranean Sea, stemming from the five new multiannual management plans (MAPs) adopted by the GFCM at its annual session in November. Catch limits are reduced by 3% compared to the 2021 levels and are combined with fleet management measures.
Also based on the provisions of the new MAPs, in the Strait of Sicily, the regulation introduces an effort regime for hake, combined with a capacity freeze for all the fleets. In the Alboran Sea, to ensure stock recovery, there are new catch limits for the blackspot seabream (reduced by 7% compared to the 2018-2021 reference period), combined with fleet capacity limitations and recreational fishing restrictions.
In the Adriatic Sea, the regulation continues the implementation of measures for the management of the small pelagic species and demersal stocks, based on the provisions of the MAPs adopted by the GFCM in 2019 and 2021.
There is a catch reduction of 5% for anchovy and 9% for sardines and a fishing capacity ceiling. For demersal stocks, the regulation sets new EU effort levels with a further reduction of 5.2% for demersal trawlers and a 3% reduction for beam trawlers.
For the Black Sea, the regulation transposes the GFCM decisions to rollover the total allowable catches (TAC) for turbot, as well as to carry-over the unused EU turbot quotas from 2021 to 2023. The Black Sea sprat quotas remain at the 2022 level.
