The EU Commission adopted Monday its proposal for 2025 fishing opportunities for the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, with measures it says promotes sustainable management of fish stocks.
Remaining fishing opportunities are to be proposed after the results of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) annual session and the release of new scientific advice expected in mid-November by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), it says.
In the Western Mediterranean, the proposal includes limits on fishing effort for trawlers and longliners, catch limits for deep-water shrimp and a compensation mechanism for trawlers. These measures are coherent with the Western Mediterranean multiannual management plan (MAP) for demersal stocks, which, as from January 2025, and following a transitional period of five years, will start to apply maximum sustainable yield (MSY) ranges – meaning the maximum amount of fish that fishers can take out of the sea without compromising the regeneration and future productivity of the stock.
In the Mediterranean Sea, the Commission is proposing the continued implementation of the MAP for common dolphinfish – as agreed under the GFCM in 2023 – and the extension of gradual reductions in catches for blackspot seabream and deep-water shrimps. In the Adriatic Sea, the proposal includes the implementation of the GFCM MAPs for demersal and small pelagic stocks. In the Black Sea, the proposal includes catch limits and quotas for sprat and turbot.
Based on this and other upcoming Commission proposals, the Council will, at their meeting of 9-10 December, establish the allocation of fishing opportunities. The regulation would then apply as of 1 January 2025.
