EU nations set fish quota leaving environmentalists outraged

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union nations have set fish catch quotas for next year in an attempt to protect fragile stocks and fishing fleets at the same time, but environmentalists claim they will protect neither. The traditional year-end bartering session between EU coastal nations to secure as many catch rights for their fishers for next year often clashed with the advice of scientists to contain overfishing. Even though some catches were reduced to safeguard the survival of species — like the one-third cut of sole totals in the Gulf of Biscay and some bans on targeted cod fishing — others were kept to guarantee the survival of threatening fishing communities.