WWF said that while today scientists from the International Council for the Exploitation of the Sea (ICES) have announced that cod stocks continue to be chronically overfished in almost all European waters and recommended again zero catches, the Council of the European Union has been given further scope to ignore scientific advice and set too high fishing quotas for this species.

Meanwhile, WWF says it has been refused entry to the European Court to challenge the Council of Ministers on the legality of quota decisions which are being "clearly set outside the scientific advice."

Carol Hatton, WWF-UK’s Solicitor, said: “It’s incredibly frustrating that whilst we are arguing over access to the Court, cod stocks are still under pressure. We believe it is important to appeal this judgment to establish that NGOs can access the Court to ensure that in the future fishing quotas take heed of scientific advice and are not set at a level that has serious consequences for the marine environment”

In March 2007, WWF-UK applied to the Court of First Instance to challenge the 2007 cod quota levels set by the Council of the European Union. If the number of mature cod in the sea falls below a certain level, EU law requires the Council to reduce the quotas by more than 15 per cent. In December 2006, the European Council failed to do this, ignoring scientific advice and prompting WWF to take legal action for a breach of Article Seven of the Cod Recovery Plan.

WWF-UK asked the Court to order the Council to review its decisions on cod quotas, with a view to setting them at a level which will allow stocks to reach precautionary levels as soon as possible. Yet,the grouping go on, the Court of First Instance has refused to give WWF-UK access to the Court to challenge the legality of the quota levels, which is "a blow for dwindling cod stocks, showing that the Council can continue to ignore scientific advice without repercussion, putting fragile cod stocks at further risk from over fishing."

WWF go on:"And the same old story continues. ICES advice published today shows that cod stocks continue to be overfished in almost all EU waters due to high levels of discards and overexploitation in 2007. Scientists report that discarding of North Sea cod has increased to 40% in 2007 and is expected to remain high in 2008. The high quantity of juveniles caught last year, amounting to 84% of international landings, is considered a big hinder to recovery potential of this stock. For almost all cod stocks ICES recommend zero catches for 2008.

“Last year the EU has missed a real opportunity to do the right thing by increasing the North Sea Cod quotas while the stock was still under a recovery plan,” says Carol Phua, Senior Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF “The science is clear, give cod a break now, and protect the juveniles, or there will be no future for cod. Ignoring this advice again and setting wildly inappropriate fishing quotas without mandatory measures to reduce the bycatch of juveniles will continue one of the greatest European environmental injustices.” The final decision on the quotas is expected at the EU Fisheries Council in December, based on a proposal presented by the European Commission.

Meanwhile Willie Mackenzie, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace said:

“Yet again scientists have stressed that the only way to save decimated cod stocks is not to catch any. Yet politicians continually ignore the experts and, as a result, lead us towards barren oceans and a ruined fishing industry.

“The ridiculous approach at the moment is clearly not working. Cod are being pushed towards extinction while fishermen are forced to chuck back half of their catch because of the farcical quota system. We urgently need to move towards a sustainable fishing industry. And politicians should start by creating large marine reserves in the North Sea.”

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