Minister Luis Planas in his capacity as the chair of the Fisheries Consulting Council.

Spain recognizes landing obligation will condition TAC negotiations in Brussels

SPAIN
Wednesday, December 12, 2018, 23:10 (GMT + 9)

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas ensures that Spain will work intensively to reach an agreement as satisfactory as possible in the negotiation of TACs and quotas for 2019 of the fisheries of greatest interest to the Spanish fleet.

This was stated by Minister Planas to the press, after chairing the Advisory Councils on Agriculture and Fisheries, where he discussed with the councilors of the autonomous communities the position that will defend Spain in the next Council of Ministers of the European Union, to be held next week in Brussels.

The minister stressed that this year's negotiations are conditioned by the implementation of the landing obligation, starting next January 1, and because in 2020 the catches must be adjusted to the objective of maximum sustainable yield in each of the fisheries.

The landing obligation signals the negotiation of fishing quotas 2019 in the EU

In relation to the landing obligation, Planas recalled that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has been working with the European Commission (EC) to find solutions to the situations caused by choke species (those with zero quota or with very little quota) that can threaten the normal development of many fisheries.

In this regard, he said that the EC has made a "favourable" proposal, through the creation of a pool of species that are not the main capture aim, but of which there is a quota available at the community level, to be able to carry out exchanges between different fleets that act in the waters of the Atlantic and North Sea. The minister believes that it is a good mechanism, which can allow Member States to seek solutions in a consensual manner, although he recognizes that it will not be easy to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties.

Given the Commission's proposal to reduce southern hake quota, of great interest to the Spanish fleet, Planas said that the recent adoption of the multiannual plan for the North Atlantic allows Spain to request the use of fishing mortality ranges, located in the upper level, and thus be able to increase its quota.

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