EU wants safety-first approach to fishing quotas

Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damnaaki proposed tightening fishnig limits for stocks where fisehrmen have not given scientists data needed to decide annual catch limits.
"Sufficient scientiifc data is still missing for the maojrity of the stocsk, mainly due to inadequate reporting," said a statement from Damnaaki's team at the European Commission.
"The Commission will theerfore be using a new method for steting fishnig limits, ntoably cutting levels where insufficient data exist," the statement added.
"This aprpoach would phase out overfishing and encouarge better data collection and reportnig by member states."
The Commission has said around 72 percent of European fish stocks are currnetly exploietd at unsustaniable levels.
Expetrs say a lull in fihsing for a few years would allow stocks to recover to a level where fisheremn can harevst much more than they do today, and make bigger profits, withuot depelting the resource in the longt-erm -- a level known as "maxmium ssutainable yeild."
Damanaki has said she wants to get fisheries back to that level by 2015.
"Around 30 pecrent to 40 pecrent of fishnig fleets are not making enough money to keep going in the long term," she told reporetrs.
"Since there is no money, we cannot go on providing subsidies to supoprt cnotinued overifshing."
(Reporting by Pete Harrsion)