This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
EU-Norway fisheries agreement
26/11/2004
A new agreement on fish stocks has been agreed today between the European Union and Norway.
Fisheries Minister Ross Finnie described it as a 'fair deal' for Scotland's fishermen that would secure key Scottish stocks.
The Scottish fleet is to receive its full share of the mackerel fishery in the Norway zone, and also have additional fishing opportunities in both the whiting and herring fisheries.
Other aspects of the agreement include a rollover of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for cod, a small reduction in the haddock TAC and a reduction in industrial fishing opportunities.
Mr Finnie said :
"We are committed to working with Eurpoean partners to protect our marine resources. This is a fair deal for Scotland's fishermen.
"This year it was crucially important to secure the full Scottish share of the mackerel fishery. Despite pressure from Norway to change the shares we achieved our objective.
"We have secured additional sustainable fishing opportunities for both our whitefish fishermen and our pelagic fishermen.
"We have set the longer term management of haddock on a sustainable footing, to ensure that the current abundance can be harvested over an extended period.
"Conclusion of these negotiations ahead of December's Council is welcome. We must now take this agreement to the Council for final approval and work with fishing interests for a similarly sensible agreement on all remaining issues to help secure a sustainable future for our industry."
The EU-Norway agreement includes:
- The exchange of fishing possibilities in each other's fishing zones
- The establishment of annual catch limitations for the jointly-managed North Sea fish stocks (cod, haddock, whiting, mackerel, herring, saithe and plaice)
- Long term management plans for the jointly managed North Sea fish stocks
- Agreements on other, autonomously managed joint stocks
- Agreements on future scientific co-operation
- Agreements on the development of fisheries' control measures
- Exchange of other pertinent information - including catch statistics, scientific research and development of technical conservation measures.
The implications of the 2005 agreement for Scottish fisheries are:
- TAC of 27,300 for North Sea cod (unchanged)
TAC of 66,000 for North Sea haddock (15 per cent reduction)
TAC of 28,000 for North Sea whiting (75 per cent increase)
TAC of 535,000 for North Sea herring (16 per cent increase)
No transfer of mackerel to Norway (unchanged)
Unchanged transfer of blue whiting to Norway (120,000 tonnes)
Reduced receipt of North Sea haddock from Norway (reduced by 1818 tonnes)
Receipt of anglerfish from Norway (2,000 new transfer)
Receipt of ling from Norway (1,000 new transfer)
Receipt of tusk from Norway (200, new transfer)
Reduced receipt of by-catch quota from Norway (7,800, reduced by 3,200 tonnes)
Exchange of opportunities in the industrial fisheries reduced to a minimal amount or by-catch (sandeels, sprats, Norway pout, capelin)
Agreement to develop joint management arrangements for anglerfish during 2005
Agreement to the long term management of the North Sea haddock fishery by limiting fishing mortality to a rate consistent with a maximum sustainable yield
Agreement to co-operate on further joint scientific investigations into the appropriate long term management of cod and plaice
Agreement to co-operate on the elimination of ghost fishing and gear conflicts caused by fishing with static gill nets
Agreement to further develop the joint arrangements for electronic catch reporting systems, satellite vessel monitoring and inspection procedures for the weighing of pelagic landings