Proposal for a Council Regulation fixing for 2012 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea

In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, the CFP seeks to ensure that living aquatic resources are exploited under sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions. One important tool in this respect is the annual fixing of fisheries opportunities in the form of total allowable catches (TACs), quotas and fishing effort limits.

The objective of this proposal is to fix, for the commercially most important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, the fishing opportunities for Member States for 2012. With a view to simplifying and clarifying the annual TAC and quota decisions, fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea have been fixed by a separate Regulation since 2006.

The scientific advice for stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2012 was delivered by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in May 2011 and by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) in June 2011.

The proposal contains two sections of importance for the management of the Baltic fisheries in 2012 through fishing opportunities: one section fixing the TACs and quotas and a second limiting the fishing effort, through imposing limits on their activity (number of days at sea).

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)562: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:562:FIN

ESO: Background information: Fisheries: Commission proposes fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea for 2012 http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-fisheries-commission-proposes-fishing-opportunities-in-the-baltic-sea-for-2012/

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