The ministers in charge of Fisheries in the European Union closed, this morning, an agreement for the 2023 quotas. The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Maria do Céu Antunes, speaks of a positive result, with a “significant increase” in relation to certain species, such as hake.
“The Portuguese quota increases more than 100%, we went from 2,286 tons to 4,645, in the case of monkfish it increases by 12% [até 689 toneladas]the sandbox 33%, [para 92 toneladas] and horse mackerel 15% [totalizado 117.126 toneladas]”, revealed the minister.
Other species maintained last year’s fishing quota, although Brussels proposed significant reductions. Sea bream, for example, had planned a 27% cut, but in the end there were no changes to last year’s quota.
“We were able to maintain this quota, that is, 600 tons, which represents, for the Azores alone, an achievement of 2 million euros and stability for more than 2,500 fishermen and more than 70% of their boats”, stressed Maria do Céu Antunes, adding that the species that maintained the quota represent a total of “10 million euros”.
Fishermen will be able to take 407 tons of sole out of the sea, which also maintains last year’s quota, despite the alert from the Commission to reduce the quota. Maria do Céu Antunes guarantees that there is no risk to the sustainability of the marine ecosystem.
🇧🇷[Para] All the species that were maintained, -bream, sole and curved skate-, we do not have data that show us that there are issues related to stability, for this proposal to be presented by the Commission”.
The Minister of Agriculture, speaking at the end of a marathon of negotiations that began on Sunday and lasted uninterrupted for 24 hours, also said that it was possible to maintain the goal of fishing for eels in the Miño river.
As for cod, the ministers also set “the quarterly quota for the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, which allows the activity to be maintained until there is an agreement with Norway.” That agreement is expected to be reached in March.
Source: TSF
