EU and Norway finally reached deals on fish
Two months after the negotiations on the annual fisheries agreement collapsed, EU and Norway on Tuesday reached a deal.
The new bi-lateral 2010-agreement concluded a long-term deal on the mackerel stocks in the waters outside southern Norway. Disagreement around the management of mackerel stocks was the main reason why the negotiations collapsed in December last year, as reported by BarentsObserver.
Due to the collapsed negotiations, Norwegian and EU fishermen have not been allowed to fish in each other’s waters since December 31st.
But, the new deal also includes a chapter on increase controls and fisheries inspections in both the Barents- and North Sea.
-We will continue to strengthen our work towards a reasonable control regime for all fisheries where Norway participate, says Norway’s Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Ms. Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, according to a press-release posted at the Ministry’s web-portal.
Read also: Increased quotas for Barents Sea stocks
EU and Norway have agreed to cut quotas for cod, plaice and haddock.
For 2010, EU’s quotas for cod in the Norwegian zone in the Barents Sea will be 20.050 tons.
