EU signs cod death sentence:
The European Union has agreed new fishing quotas for 2006, after three days of negotiations in Brussels.
The number of days of cod trawlers can spend at sea will be cut by 5% - instead of the 15% recommended by the European Commission.
Scientists have been calling for a blanket ban on cod fishing because of dwindling stocks, but this was fiercely opposed by North Sea fishing fleets.
An outright ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay will be lifted.
European Union ministers have again taken less radical steps than those proposed by the Commission, which in turn was much milder than scientists called for, the BBC's Tim Hirsch reports.
And in recognition of the cuts that the UK has already made to its North Sea fisheries, the 5% cut will be capped at a maximum of five days over the whole year for British boats.
"The agreement reached will provide greater protection for the species most threatened. Overall fishing possibilities will be reduced ... also for those species for which cod is a by-catch," EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said.
BBC
The European Union has agreed new fishing quotas for 2006, after three days of negotiations in Brussels.
The number of days of cod trawlers can spend at sea will be cut by 5% - instead of the 15% recommended by the European Commission.
Scientists have been calling for a blanket ban on cod fishing because of dwindling stocks, but this was fiercely opposed by North Sea fishing fleets.
An outright ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay will be lifted.
European Union ministers have again taken less radical steps than those proposed by the Commission, which in turn was much milder than scientists called for, the BBC's Tim Hirsch reports.
And in recognition of the cuts that the UK has already made to its North Sea fisheries, the 5% cut will be capped at a maximum of five days over the whole year for British boats.
"The agreement reached will provide greater protection for the species most threatened. Overall fishing possibilities will be reduced ... also for those species for which cod is a by-catch," EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said.
BBC
