BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters):

Europe's fisheries chief called on Tuesday for a 25 per cent cut in cod catches next year in many parts of the Atlantic, saying there had been no significant improvement in stocks depleted by years of chronic overfishing.

The proposed quota cuts would be accompanied by reductions in the numbers of days that vessels may spend at sea hunting other species where cod was also found as a by-catch, EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said in a statement.

"In the absence of any significant improvement in cod stocks ... the Commission proposes a cut of 25 per cent on cod fishing possibilities," he said, adding it was "clear that more effective conservation measures will be required in future."

Scientists warned recently that Europe's fishermen should stop catching North Sea cod if the species is to survive.

The Commission has usually rejected this kind of advice to avoid wrecking communities that depend economically on fishing. Now, its focus is on multi-annual management plans whereby a limited amount of fishing, strictly controlled, is allowed.

Conservation groups reacted angrily to Borg's proposal, saying it was one of the weakest since the EU's reform of fisheries policy in 2002.

Zero catch

"It suggests only a 25 per cent reduction for cod quotas, while scientists ... have been advising zero catch for the last five years," environment lobby group WWF said in a statement.

"The situation is alarming particularly for cod in the North Atlantic, as not only high quotas are set, but also as 40 per cent of the cod catches are unaccounted for," it said.

Borg's quota proposals for 2007 will be presented to EU fisheries ministers later this month for their approval.

For plaice, Borg suggested quota cuts of 15-20 per cent in several EU waters and for herring, cuts ranging between 20 and 25 per cent in waters off western Scotland and southern Ireland.

Fishing for anchovy will remain banned in the Bay of Biscay for the time being to preserve stocks, Commission data showed.

Lying off the Atlantic coastlines of France and Spain, the bay is the key trawling ground for anchovy, a short-lived species. Anchovy fishing was banned there from July 2005 to end-February 2006; then from July 2006 to the end of this year.

However, other species were faring slightly better, he said.

Numbers of northern hake, for example, had recovered enough to justify a 15 per cent increase in 2007 quotas from this year.

SOURCE: Financial Gleaner, Friday, December 8, 2006