Besides the top issue on the agenda – a multi-year plan for managing stocks of cod, herring and sprats in the Baltic Sea – the list of discussion points also includes Russia’s five-month long food embargo against EU imports and its impact on agricultural development in certain sectors.
A new approach to fish-stocks management is set to be implemented after a reformed Common Fisheries policy has come into force after decades of devastating overfishing deplenished existing stocks, and this is the first multi-year plan for stock management in which all member-states are said to be eager to express their opinion.
Especially important are the new regulations on introducing the landing requirement on some fish species now in force as of January 1.
Finally, the Council will also talk about its external dimension of fisheries for a viable and competitive EU fishing fleet in the high-seas and in third-country trade with coastal and island nations key to the international and regional fishing industries.
