Among the measures announced for 2022 Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries are the continuing EU multiannual management plan for demersal stocks in the Western Mediterranean, adopted in June 2019.
Trawl fishing effort is expected to be reduced by 6%, and new management tools in the form of catch limits for deep water shrimps and the establishment of an effort ceiling for longliners are being introduced. Catch limits are being introduced for the most heavily fished deep water shrimps, for which the scientific advice stated that effort reduction alone would not be sufficient to achieve MSY by 2025.
The measures aim to achieve a reduction in fishing mortality, while minimising the socio-economic impact on the fleets.
New measures for the management of the small pelagic species and demersal stocks in the Adriatic, adopted by the GFCM in 2021 are also introduced, including a reduction of catches of 5% for anchovy and 8% for sardines for 2022 and a fishing capacity ceiling.
For the Adriatic demersal stocks, the regulation sets the new effort levels with a further reduction of 7% for demersal trawlers and 3% reduction for beam trawlers. These measures are intended to enable a further improvement of the stocks, as confirmed by scientific advice, showing an increase in the biomass of most stocks subject to the plan.
“Today we took an important step towards delivering on the political commitments made in the new 2030 Strategy of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean aimed at reversing the bad state of the stocks in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. I am also pleased that the Member States remain committed to the continued implementation of the Western Mediterranean multiannual plan and have supported the comprehensive package approach proposed by the Commission, although with a reduced level of ambition,” said European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius as he welcomed the agreement on 2022 fishing opportunities.
“We all faced difficult, but necessary choices that will lead us towards restoring the stocks to sustainable levels and ensuring the long-term social and economic viability for our fishermen and women operating in the region. Furthermore, I am happy that in the Adriatic, we have put in place a comprehensive and coherent management framework with the recent adoption of the GFCM small pelagics multiannual plan and the implementation of the GFCM Adriatic demersal multiannual plan. These measures will set us on the right path to achieve our objectives of sustainably managed fisheries and profitable fleets in these sea basins.”
