MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Scientists recommend 22.000 tons for North Sea cod quota

Stocks of North Sea cod have slightly increased but quotas should remain in place for 2008, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) said Friday. The independent scientific body monitors fish stocks in the North Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea issued its latest projections of cod and other fish species on Friday.

"We recommend constraining catches (of North Sea cod) in 2008 to less than 50 per cent of the 2006 catches. And this should include measures to constrain discards and illegal catches," Martin Pastoors, head of ICES' Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, said in a statement. The committee groups scientists from the 20 ICES members. The recommended North Sea cod quota would equal 22.000 tons. Keeping quotas in place would "give these young fish the opportunity to grow and to reproduce and thereby to contribute to the recovery of this important fish stock," Pastoors said. The ICES also noted that stocks of Norwegian spring spawning herring in the northeastern Atlantic were at "a high level" and that the Norway pout in the North Sea is recovering to a level that would allow sustainable fishery next year. Stocks of blue whiting were under pressure and the ICES said it recommended "larger reductions in catches than have been agreed by the management bodies" while fishery for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay was recommended to be closed. ICES findings will now be considered by EU ministers at the annual fishing quota negotiations in December. During last year's talks, the European Commission based its recommendation of a 25% reduction in North Sea cod catches on the assessment by the Denmark-based marine research body.