Brussels (dpa) l European Union states have agreed to a temporary fishing quota by the end of July. This will ensure that European fishing companies can continue their business after March 31, the Portuguese Minister for Maritime Affairs and Ricardo Santos, Ricardo Santos, said on Tuesday.

The backdrop for this is negotiations with the United Kingdom on shared shares. After the British left the EU, there was a complex dispute over total catches and their distribution. At various times, negotiations on the Brexit trade agreement threatened to fail due to the issue of fish.

Once the EU countries have agreed, the next step will be to continue negotiations with Great Britain. “The agreement provides for early total catches until 31 July,” said the European Union’s fisheries commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius.

Because the Brexit negotiations were dragged on until Christmas 2020, the European Union only agreed to fishing regulations for shares shared with the United Kingdom in mid-December. Many fish stocks are depleted or endangered. Environmentalists have long been calling for a ban on fishing to protect the ecosystem from serious damage.