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Pentus-Rosimannus: we are making efforts for negotiations of the 2013 fish quota

Today, the Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus-Rosimannus opened BALTFISH, a high-level fishery meeting of the Baltic Sea countries in Tallinn, the main topic of which is preparation of a position for the quota negotiations with the European Commission in the autumn.

”It is in the best interests of Estonia and all other Baltic Sea countries to enter the negotiations with as uniform position as possible. Preparation of that, seeking for compromises between the wishes of different countries, is one of the most important subjects of the meeting in Tallinn,” Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said.

The Europe’s fisheries’ ministers reached an agreement on the overall fisheries’ reform in June. ”It was agreed that the maximum sustainable yield must be obtained where possible by 2015 and everywhere else by 2020 at the latest. Such an approach would help to significantly reduce overfishing and manage the fish resources prudently,” the Minister of the Environment noted. Sustainable yield has already been achieved for many fish resources of the Baltic Sea, and looking at scientific recommendations, achieving the objective for 2015 seems real.

Estonia has emphasised the importance of plans in sustainable management of fish resources and therefore, in the future, management plans need to be prepared on as many fish species possible. ”Having the future in mind, it is very important to manage the interconnected reserves jointly. Development of a management plan based on several species is the key question in prudent management of the fish reserves. Scientists have worked hard on this matter on the Baltic Sea and presented their vision. This is a first attempt of this kind and we are convinced this is the future of resources management, since several fish species of the Baltic Sea and other seas are closely interconnected on the level of game and predator,” Pentus-Rosimannus explained.

Making the decision process on fish reserves more regional will also be discussed on the meeting, having always been an important issue for Estonia. ”We have always emphasised the need for a more extensive cooperation and consideration for the Member States’ specific characters and interests. In implementation of protection measures of the Baltic Sea fish resources, first and foremost the views of the Member States at the Baltic Sea should be taken into consideration,” the Minister of the Environment specified.