(seafood.com) Total allowable catches (TAC) for sprat, herring and plaice in the Baltic Sea can be raised, the European Commission said today (17 August), because the number of stocks managed at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is likely increasing, and could move from three to six in 2013.
However in its proposal for fishing quotas in the Baltic in 2013 the Commission has also lowered some TACs for other Baltic species. Cod and salmon have had their levels reduced by 9% and 11% respectively.
By contrast, the TAC for herring would be increased by 23% for the western variety and 9% for the central cariety in 2013 under the proposal.
The proposed TACs are subject to approval by member states. Fisheries ministers will discuss the proposal at their meeting in October. The Commission launched the process for setting 2013 quotas in June, but numbers for the Baltic have not come out until now.
In total the Commission proposes to increase quotas for 11 species across all EU waters covered by the Common Fisheries Policy, which they say will generate €135 million in extra income for the fishing industry.
Earlier this month the Commission announced cuts to member states' fishing quotas for the rest of this year as punishment for overfishing in 2011. The Commission used a mechanism to punish repeat offenders - raising deductions by 50% for countries that have been repeatedly overfishing the same stocks - for the first time.