European ministers agree fishing quotas for 2025
European ministers have reached an agreement on fishing quotas for 2025. The quotas for sole – important for Flemish fishers – are up by 169 per cent in the North Sea but down in other areas.
The setting of quotas by the ministers of the 27 EU member states takes place every year in December. They worked on the basis of a proposal from the European Commission, which took into account several scientific opinions.
Sole accounts for almost half of the value creation in Flanders’ fishing industry, so the large increase in the quota for sole in the North Sea is significant. Quotas for plaice, turbot, whiting and monkfish have also increased. Cod and lemon sole quotas have been reduced, while the quota for skate remains stable.
"Given the declines in catch quotas for sole in western waters, this agreement represents a major challenge for our fishermen"
In the North Sea, Flemish fishers will be able to catch 454 tonnes more sole next year. However, such wide fluctuations – this year there was a 60 per cent drop – threaten the stability of the industry, according to Flemish minister Hilde Crevits of Christian democrats CD&V.
She is calling for an urgent review of the common fisheries policy to address fluctuations in scientific advice. She also wants better advice based on more recent data on fish stocks and catches.
Since Brexit, Belgium shares almost all its stocks with the UK, but the current EU-British fisheries agreement expires in 2026. “Given the declines in catch quotas for sole in western waters, this agreement represents a major challenge for our fishermen,” Crevits said.
Meanwhile, Flanders is investing in improving its fisheries relations with Norway.
#FlandersNewsService | © Fishermen unload fish from a trawler at the Port of Ostend, October 2020 © PHOTO JOHN THYS / AFP
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