Individual fishing quota

Under a quota is understood in the fishing a fixed amount of aquatic animals ( fish, whales and others) that may be taken in a defined area during a period.

They are expressed eg by total catch figures for a species of fish (English Total Allowable Catch, TAC). This total catch figures should be less than or equal to the maximum sustainable yield (English Maximum Sustainable Yield, MSY).

Catch quotas are politically determined. Basis should be calculations of Fisheries Science. For political reasons, higher catch rates are usually decided. The result is overfishing, stocks go back, so that in the following years, fewer animals can be caught or they even threaten extinction.

The allowable catch quotas at EU level be adopted for Germany and the entire European Union. Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty they are adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, in which the Council and European Parliament to decide equally through legislative initiatives of the European Commission. The setting of fishing quotas is part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and to ensure that the " European fishing industry remains sustainable and the marine environment is not destroyed ." For most fish stocks, TACs are set annually, for deep-sea species every two years.