The European Union and Canada have signed a pact that divides north Atlantic turbot stocks, the subject of a monthlong dispute between Spanish fishermen and the Canadian government.
Canada's ambassador to the EU, Jacques Roy, signed the agreement late Thursday with the EU's chief negotiator, Gianluigi Giola."Finally the story is over, and we hope for a better future," said EU spokesman Marco Zatterin.
The deal requires strict conservation rules to protect the dwindling stocks of turbot, or Green-land halibut, in the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Nations that fish the disputed waters now have 15 days to put an independent observer on each boat. Most boats also will be surveyed by satellite.
Under the settlement, Canada will get 10,000 tons of the total 1995 turbot catch limit of 27,000 tons set by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, or NAFO.
The deal skirts the contentious issue of the EU's quota.