EU to increase fishing quota in Baltic Sea for 2014

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EU to increase fishing quota in Baltic Sea for 2014

(Xinhua) 19:01, August 23, 2013

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The European Commission has tabled its proposal on new fishing quota in the Baltic Sea for 2014, which would increase overall fishing opportunities for EU vessels in the area by 10 percent.

The annual proposal, released by the EU on Thursday and obtained on Friday, suggests the amount of fish which can be caught by European Union fishermen from the main commercial fish stocks in the Baltic Sea next year.

The proposals are mainly based on latest scientific advice which indicates that more stocks are now managed at sustainable levels -- the so-called maximum sustainable yield (MSY) level -- in the Baltic Sea.

"For 2014, the number of known stocks that can be fished at MSY level increased from three to five compared with 2013," the European Commission said in its press release.

The Commission proposes to increase fishing quota this year for eastern cod and stocks of herring in the Central Baltic and Gulf of Bothnia. Meanwhile, the Commission proposes to reduce the number of days at sea for vessels fishing for cod in accordance with the Baltic cod management plan.

The proposed measures would result in an overall increase by 10 percent up to 644 000 tones in fishing opportunities for Union vessels in the Baltic Sea for all species except salmon stocks.

This would increase the value of fishing opportunities for 2014 by 12 million euro (about 9.02 million U.S. dollars) to a total value of approximately 412 million euro(about 309.8 million U.S. dollars).

The Commission said the present proposal shall be discussed by the Member States' ministers at the October Fisheries Council and will apply from 1 January 2014.

（Editor：DuMingming、Liang Jun）