Sweden will introduce an ITQ system for pelagic fisheries on November 1, the Board of Fisheries has announced.
The Individually Transferable Quotas (ITQ) rules will be applied for mackerel, herring, sprat, blue whiting, great sand eel, and some species in industrial fisheries. For the remainder of this year, the only change for fishermen with licenses will be that their allotted quotas will be transferable; from next year the Board of Fisheries will decide on an annual basis how much of the Swedish national quotas will be ITQs and how much will be non-transferable.
ITQs for Swedish fisheries will be introduced for the following species and waters:
• Mackerel and herring: The Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, The Skagerrak and Kattegat and western, eastern and northern Baltic Sea.
• Sprat: The Skagerrak and Kattegat and the Baltic Sea.
• Blue whiting, great sand eel and industrial species: the Norwegian zone in the North Sea.