Western Waters fisheries: Council gives go-ahead to multiannual management plan
The EU is soon implementing new, longer term rules to manage fishing activities in the Western Waters, which comprise both the North and South Western Waters, and the waters around Madeira and the Canary Islands.
The Council today adopted a regulation establishing a multiannual plan for stocks fished in the Western Waters and adjacent waters, and for fisheries exploiting those stocks.
The multi-annual management plans are crucial to the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy. Today, after the Baltic and North Sea, Western Waters follow suit with the objective of ensuring the sustainability of our marine resources and fisheries sector.
Petre Daea, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania and President of the Council
The new regulation sets out a comprehensive multiannual management plan including all relevant fish stocks (demersal and deep-sea stocks) and setting fishing objectives for the key target species. These will have to be fished in line with the maximum sustainable yield principle while by-catches will be managed according to the precautionary approach.
The new rules are designed to take into account the fact that the most important demersal stocks (i.e. those that live at the bottom of the sea) are caught in mixed fisheries and the challenges arising from this phenomenon in the context of the implementation of the landing obligation.
The new rules will apply on the day after their publication on the Official Journal of the European Union.