Wordwide Sand Eel Quota Set at 200,000 Tons
Another sand eel season has begun. There is still a monitoring period from April 1 to May 6 and this year a total quota of 200,000 tons for all countries has been set for the monitoring period.
Writing in the 999 Newsletter, Nils Christian Jensen, Managing Director TripleNine Fish Protein a.m.b.a.,said the calculation formula has changed from previous years and the consequences of this are still unknown. Among other things, considerably more one-year-old sand eel need to be counted to produce the same quota as in 2009.
"In 2009, 110 billion one-year-old sand eel would have resulted in a quota of 400,000 tons. In 2010, 200 billion are required for a quota of 400,000 tons. In 2009, the biologists calculated a total of 130 billion one-year-old sand eel. Using the 2010 formula, this will result in a quota of just 147,000 tons. Irrespective of the estimated number of one-year-old sand eel, the final quota will be maximum 400,000 tons between all countries and fishing has to stop at the end of July 2010".
"The cold winter may well delay the start of sand eel fishing and therefore reduce the number of samples forming the basis of the final quota. The fewer samples, the greater the (statistical) uncertainty of the quota calculation. It may therefore be necessary to extend the monitoring period. Once again, I urge the authorities to avoid unnecessary bureaucratic stops to the sand eel fishing", he said.
