Cod quota branded a 'farce' in EU fisheries deal

David Adam, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 December 2008 17.45 GMT

Environmental campaigners were divided this evening over plans announced by the European Commission to increase the amount of cod taken from the over-fished North Sea.
Greenpeace said the 30% increase in the North Sea cod quota for next year was a "farce" and could see the fishery face total collapse. But WWF welcomed new efforts to reduce the amount of fish caught and then dumped, and said the plans were a "step in the right direction".
The cod quota for the North Sea was announced today in Brussels, as part of a package of deals for fisheries across European waters.
As well as a 30% increase in North Sea cod quotas, the agreement allows UK fishermen to land 32% more mackerel, 13% more North Sea plaice and 8% more monkfish off the Scottish west coast.
Huw Irranca-Davies, fisheries minister, said: "This is a fair deal overall for the UK, balancing the needs of our fishermen to make a living with the need to protect fish stocks for the future and prevent huge amounts of what they catch having to be thrown back dead into the sea."
Giles Bartlett, fisheries policy officer at WWF-UK, said the deal made the first serious attempt to focus on the number of fish taken out of the sea, rather than the amount landed - what the quotas refer to. He said 2008 quotas allowed some 22,000 tonnes of North Sea cod to be landed, while closer to 38,000 tonnes of the fish were actually caught. Fish caught but not landed were dumped, dead, back into the sea.
Under the new deal, the total amount of North Sea cod killed is supposed to fall by a quarter. "There has never been any incentive to catch less fish," he said. "The onus will be on the fishing industry and governments to deliver this crucial reduction target."
More fish could be landed from fewer caught, he said, with more efficient methods such as nets that allow other species to escape, as well as a ban on discarding fish large enough to land. He said more observers could sail on fishing vessels to ensure crews comply with the new rules. In a pilot study next month five Scottish fishing boats will sail under CCTV surveillance to verify catch data.
Willie Mackenzie, fisheries campaigner with Greenpeace, said the cod quota increase was "disastrous for the fishing industry" and went against scientific advice to ban all fishing until stocks recover.
He said: "Much more needs to be done to allow Europe's decimated fisheries to recover, and that includes setting aside large areas, off-limits to commercial fishing, as marine reserves." He added: "If there is an increase in the amount of fish landed and the [discard limiting] steps aren't taken, then you're making the situation worse."
Elsewhere, yesterday's agreement sees cod quotas in other European waters mostly cut by 25%. Scotland avoided the closure of its prawn and white fish fishery on the west coast by agreeing strict rules on fishing tackle, and cuts in cod, herring, haddock and whiting.
A ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay will remain until at least spring 2009 because there are few signs of a recovery in stock numbers.