Fishing cheats to lose licences in EU crackdown[fr][de] 

The points system, taking effect next year, is part of a drive to reduce excessive fishing which has severely depleted European stocks of cod, haddock and hake.

Ministers agreed new quotas for Baltic cod and herring and put on hold a controversial proposal that national tallies include fish landed by recreational anglers.

They also cut the amount of overfishing that will be tolerated to 10% from 20 - drawing criticism from a Green member of parliament that this was accepting "legalised cheating," though on a reduced scale.

Under the new points system, if fishermen rack up a certain number of offences - for example, using small-mesh nets to trap extra fish, or fishing in closed seasons - they will lose their right to fish in EU waters for several months.

After five serious infractions, they risk losing their licences permanently.

"The consumers must know that the fish for sale in the shops has been caught legally," said Swedish Agriculture Minister Eskil Erlandsson, who chaired the meeting.

EU countries that fail to enforce the new system could lose access to EU funds for overhauling their fisheries and could even have their quotas cut.

The controls reduce the margin fishermen are given for overfishing from 20% to 10. But that did not go far enough, said Green politician Raül Romeva, who led the debate on fisheries controls in the European Parliament.

"These new measures will tighten the net on [...] abuses, but I regret that further effective provisions were allowed to slip away," said Romeva. "The regulation allows up to a 10% margin over catch limits, which is essentially a form of legalised cheating."

Ministers also agreed that cod fishing can be increased by between 9 and 15% in the Baltic Sea next year, after signs the stock was recovering there.

Fishermen will be given a 15% increase in the allowable catch for eastern Baltic cod to about 51,000 tonnes, and an increase of 8.6% for western Baltic cod to around 17,000 tonnes. 

The herring catch will be reduced by 16.5% in the western Baltic - less severe than the 21% cut recommended by scientists. Herring quotas will be cut 12% in the Baltic's main basin.

(EurActiv with Reuters.)