Baltic cod recovery allows bigger catch: EU exec

Reuters 3 Sep 09;

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Cod fishing can be increased by between 9 and 15 percent in the Baltic Sea next year, but the catch of Western Herring should be reduced by 21 percent, the European Commission said Thursday.

"The positive trend for Baltic Sea cod gives us confidence that the plan we have adopted to rebuild the stocks is working," said Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

"For herring, the stock is in a long term slump. Serious cuts in fishing possibilities are needed to stop overfishing this stock."

The Commission proposed a 15 percent increase in the allowable catch for eastern Baltic cod to 51,267 tonnes, and an increase of 9 percent for western Baltic cod to 17,700 tonnes.

The proposal will be discussed by EU member states at a fisheries council in October.

The Western Herring stock has continued to decline after a 2009 catch that exceeded scientific advice, and the 2010 catch must therefore be reduced 21 percent to 21,469 tonnes, the Commission said.

The sprat catch must be reduced by 15 percent to 339,960 tonnes, it said.

(Reporting by Pete Harrison, editing by Tim Pearce)

Raised cod quota beckons for battered Baltic fleet: EU
Yahoo News 3 Sep 09;

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Cod fishing quotas in the Baltic sea should rise as stocks return to the waters between Scandinavia and a trio of former Soviet EU members hard hit by recession, the European Commission said Thursday.

Thousands of extra tonnes of the fish will be made available to fleets in 2010 if a commission proposal based on scientific advice is accepted at a meeting of the European Union's fisheries ministers next month.

But one in five western herring will have to be left in the seas if a long-term slump in numbers is to have any chance of being reversed, according to a statement outlining plans which also took into account economic conditions.

Likewise, sprat and sea salmon tonnage must also be substantially reduced.

"We have paved the way for the comeback of Baltic cod by strictly applying the cod plan," said fisheries commissioner Joe Borg of a multi-year set of targets.

The commission wants to increase the legal EU catch for Baltic cod from 60,917 tonnes to 68,967 tonnes, amid evidence of a rise in the numbers of fish thrown away after being caught.

That is put down to a revival in species numbers. However, thanks to historic overfishing, new herring stocks for the year are "now merely a quarter of what they used to be," Borg warned.