BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Thursday to put an end to decades of over-fishing and rebuild dwindling stocks by 2020, as part of a deal to overhaul the bloc's fisheries policy.
The agreement will put an end to annual haggling over catch quotas by EU ministers in Brussels, widely blamed for putting short-term economic interests above the long-term health of Europe's fish stocks.
Officials said a deal to follow scientific advice more closely when setting quotas in the future could increase EU fish stocks by up to 15 million metric tons (16.5 million tons) by the end of the decade.
The reform will also see a massive reduction in the wasteful practice known as discarding, which sees European fishermen throw almost 2 million metric tons of unwanted fish back into the sea each year - often dead or dying - as they seek to fill strict quotas with the most valuable species.
In a statement after the deal, British liberal MEP and head of the European Parliament's "Fish for the Future" group Chris Davies described it as a major step in promoting sustainable fishing.
"Our treatment of Europe's seas has been a disgrace. [More]
