“Celtic Sea cod could collapse,” without the proposed limits, one EU official said. Exemptions from the sea bass embargo are slated for anglers, who will be able to catch 10 sea bass a month in 2017 – down from 30 – and for artisanal hook-and-line fishermen, whose catch limit will only be reduced to 10 tonnes a year. But big reductions have also been pencilled in for cod, sole, plaice, megrim and pollack in the Celtic and Irish Seas. Lasse Gustavsson, the European director of charity Oceana, said: “Nearly half of all fish populations in the Atlantic - and particularly the North Sea - are being overfished. The potential that stock recovery holds for the environment, and also for jobs in the fishing industry, is huge.”

Source: The Guardian October 27, 2016 15:41 UTC