EU Allows More Catches Of Exotic Deep-Sea Fish

November 23, 2004

Release from: Reuters

BRUSSELS - EU fisheries ministers agreed quotas on Tuesday for new member states to catch deepwater fish, exotic but threatened species that are fast becoming an alternative to mainstays like cod and hake, officials said.

Europe's deepwater fish -- bearing names like orange roughy, black scabbardfish, greater silver smelt and roundnose grenadier -- grow and reproduce far more slowly than fish living in shallower waters, and are more vulnerable to overfishing.

With the depletion of EU commercial stocks such as cod and hake in recent years, deepwater fish have become an attractive catch as trawlers switch from traditional fishing grounds.

Scientists have also warned that these stocks are at risk of disappearing. In Europe, they are mainly found in north Atlantic waters at depths of 400 meters (1,310 feet) and more.

Poland and the three Baltic states that joined the bloc in May -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- now have full rights to fish for three EU deepwater species in north Atlantic waters -- black scabbardfish, roundnose grenadier and blue ling.

They will join France, which dominates this sector, Britain, Ireland and Spain, raising the total EU deepsea quota slightly.

"Everybody got a little bit (of quota) and we have reached a fair allocation of fishing possibilities," EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg told a news conference, adding that it was politically important to assign quotas to the EU's new members.

The EU already has strict rules to control deepwater fishing. Special permits are needed, without which it is illegal for vessels to land or transship more than a certain amount of these fish, which may only be delivered to specified ports.

Orange roughy, one of Europe's most valuable but also most vulnerable deepwater fish, can live to be a staggering 125 years of age and are one of the slowest growing of deepwater species.