The European Union says it is "deeply concerned" over overfishing after most members of the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) rejected the EU's proposal to set quotas.
The European Commission stated that other NEAFC member countries opposed setting the total allowable catch for mackerel and blue whiting to levels suggested by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
ICES is an independent science organisation that evaluates the health of fish populations and recommends sustainable fishing levels.
This decision follows warnings that mackerel, considered the most significant stock in the region, is already below the minimum levels considered sustainable by scientific experts.
Disagreements persist
According to the Commission, most NEAFC members also failed to agree a ban on “transhipment”— the transfer of fish from one vessel to another at sea.
Although this practice is already banned in the national waters of most members, including the EU and the UK, the EU raised concerns that lack of a wider ban could undermine efforts to prevent illegal and unregulated fishing.
The Commission said that calls to step up inspections of transhipment at sea, a key control measure used to enforce rules against overfishing and unauthorised catches, were also met with resistance from the majority of other parties.
NEAFC includes the European Union, Denmark (representing the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom as members.
