FishFiles Lite

Common Fisheries Policy and Fish Hygiene

by MEGAPESCA LDA

TECHNICAL INFORMATION IN FOOD & FISHERIES POLICY & DEVELOPMENT

 

November 2004

 

FishFiles Lite is a free monthly newsletter summarising key developments in EU fisheries and fish trade policy and legislation. The full text of the documents listed in this newsletter is available to FishFiles Professional subscribers. To learn more about FishFiles Professional, or to subscribe, please visit MegaPesca FishFiles online at: http://www.megapesca.com/aboutfishfiles.asp

 

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Common Fisheries Policy

 

1.      North Sea Regional Advisory Council launched.

2.      Stop fishing notices for French, Irish and Portuguese vessels.

3.      “Days at sea” regulations amended.

4.      EU -Cape Verde Fisheries Protocol extended to June 2005.

5.      New tariff quotas for herring, mackerel and shrimp.

6.      Proposed guide prices for the 2005 announced.

7.      Commission announced membership of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture.

8.      Commission proposed major reductions in fishing effort and quotas for deep sea fish stocks.

9.      ICCAT strengthened conservation measures for Atlantic bluefin and bigeye tunas.

10.  Proposals for the European Fisheries Fund published.

11.  EU and Mauritius renewed the fisheries protocol to December 2007.

12.  New EU-Comoros Fisheries Partnership Agreement was signed, plus a protocol to 2010.

13.  EU and Norway have agreed on the TACs for shared stocks in the North Sea.

14.  Amendments proposed to fisheries access to Community deep sea stocks, to account for the entry of the new Member States.

 

Fish Hygiene

 

15.  32 Rapid Alerts for fish and fish products notified in November.

16.  Member States asked to look for histamine in Indonesian tuna.

17.  Imports of live bivalve molluscs to be allowed for ongrowing, exempted from meeting health requirements

 

Common Fisheries Policy

 

1.      The Commission launched the North Sea Regional Advisory Council, operational from 1 November 2004; hailed as a turning point in the way that EU fisheries are managed.

 

2.      Stop fishing notices were issued for French vessels targeting common sole, Irish vessels targeting tusk, and Portuguese vessels operating in the waters of NAFO.

 

3.      The EU Council amended the “days at sea” permitted for certain fishing gears and vessels operating in the Kattegat, Skagerrak, North Sea, West of Scotland, Eastern Channel and Irish Sea.

 

4.      The EU Council approved a one year extension (To June 2005) to the EU-Cape Verde Fisheries Protocol, providing fishing opportunities to Spain, France and Portugal for tuna vessels, surface and bottom longline vessels.

 

5.      The European Council announced a new annual quota of duty free imports of frozen herring, herring fillets and mackerel for processing, and shrimps imported from Norway and Iceland.

 

6.      The EU Commission announced proposals for the 2005 intervention prices for fishery products withdrawn from the market; small decrease is proposed for most species.

 

7.      The Commission announced the membership of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, in post until 30 April 2007.

 

8.      The EU Commission proposed 30-50% reductions in fishing effort and quotas for deep sea fish stocks, along with closed areas. The NEAFC is also to be asked to follow suit outside Community waters.

 

9.      ICCAT agreed to strengthen conservation measures for Atlantic bluefin tuna, including an increase in minimum size and removal of the 15% small fish tolerance. A multi-annual management plan for bigeye tuna was also adopted, but regulation of transshipment at sea was not.

 

10.  Proposals for the new structural fund for fisheries were published: the European Fisheries Fund will replace the FIFG.

 

11.  The EU and Mauritius renewed the fisheries protocol, to December 2007, providing fishing opportunities for 41 tuna seiners, 49 longline vessels and 25GRT/month of line fishing vessels in return for compensation of EUR487,500/year. Fishing opportunities were allocated to several Member States.

 

12.  A new EU-Comoros Fisheries Partnership Agreement was signed, as well as a protocol for 2004 to 2010 to provide fishing opportunities for  40 tuna seiners and 17 long-liners in return for compensation of EUR390,000/year.

 

13.  The EU and Norway have agreed on the level of fishing possibilities for shared stocks of several species in the North Sea. Future agreement is sought on industrial species and for fish in Greenland waters.

 

14.  The Commission proposed amendments to the access requirements and associated conditions for fishing for deep sea stocks, to account for the entry of the new Member States.

 

 

Fish Hygiene

 

15.  During November rapid alerts were notified for failure to comply with health conditions for 32 consignments of fishery products, including shrimp from Brazil, Poland, Indonesia, France, Tunisia, Mozambique and Vietnam.

 

16.  Following the FVO report from a mission to Indonesia, the Commission asked Member States that to be vigilant for histamine residues in tuna products imported from this country.

 

17.  Italy proposed modified import requirements for bivalve molluscs to allow import of live molluscs for further growth, fattening or relaying in community waters from Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America, subject to completion of the animal health guarantees

 

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