29 November 2010: The EU Fisheries Council met in Brussels, Belgium, on 29 November 2010, reaching a political agreement on fishing opportunities, including total allowable catch (TAC) and quotas for certain deep-sea fish stocks for 2011 and 2012.

A zero TAC was agreed for deep-sea sharks in European Union (EU) waters and certain international waters. The Council further agreed to allow by-catches of up to 3% of 2009 quotas for 2011, and it prohibited any by-catch for 2012.

Fishing for deep-sea species has been regulated by the EU since 2003, in terms of TAC per species and area, and in terms of maximum fishing effort deployable in the North-East Atlantic. The fishing opportunities for deep-sea species are decided on a bi-annual basis. [Council Conclusions]