EU to prolong fishing ban for endangered sharks

EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said Thursday that a total ban on fishing endangered deepwater shark species would be maintained for another two years. "I would like to underline that on [these] sharks we keep the zero-fishing proposal," Damanki said after talks with fisheries ministers. European Commission proposals drawn up before the talks cited scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). The ban applies in European Union waters, and to EU boats in international waters. "I think it is something we have to do because these species are in danger," Damanaki underlined. Particular concern was also shown for orange roughy in all areas and for certain stocks of blue ling and red seabream. Catch allowances have been at zero for the last year for species that take 30 years to mature and only produce one of two offspring per year, hence the call to "keep zero total allowable catches (TAC) for the next two years," she added. Catch levels for black scabbardfish and the roundnose grenadier were, however, raised. The former seeing its TAC upped by 40 percent in 2013 and 30 percent in 2014; the latter by 69 percent in 2013, said French Fisheries Minister Frederic Cuvillier.