European Union countries agree on temporary fishing quotas

European Union countries have agreed on temporary fishing quotas by the end of July. This will ensure that European fishing companies can continue to do business after March 31, said Ricardo Santos, Portugal’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and current chair of the ministerial meeting, today.

The background to this is negotiations with the UK on common equity. After the British left the European Union, there was a complex dispute over the total catch and its distribution. At times, negotiations on a trade pact on Brexit threatened to fail over the fish issue.

Negotiations continue with Great Britain

After the agreement between the countries of the European Union, the next step will be to continue negotiations with Great Britain. “The agreement provides for the initial total catch by July 31,” said European Union Commissioner for Fisheries, Virginius Sinkevicius.

Since Brexit negotiations continued until Christmas 2020, EU countries only agreed to temporary fishing rules for shared stocks with the UK in mid-December. Many fish stocks are depleted or endangered. Environmentalists have long called for restricted hunting to protect ecosystems from severe damage.