Franz Fischler, the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner, presented a report to EU fisheries ministers at a meeting in Brussels in which he outlined a plan to recover fish reserves and resolve the present cod crisis. Fischler said the following about the situation at present: “The number of cod has fallen in certain areas to such an extent that scientists cannot predict how successful possible recovery measures will be. Fishing grounds in EU waters that produced 200,000 tonnes of food up until fairly recently have been reduced to such an extent that there is great uncertainty about their future.”
To avoid the necessity to impose a moratorium, the Commission is proposing a plan to recover cod reserves, a plan that will have to be much more rigorous than the proposal put forward last year. Amongst other measures, there are plans to lower fishing costs considerably, reduce the overall catch permitted and introduce improved techniques and more rigorous controls.