European Union fishing ministers have introduced a "points system" to penalise fishermen and fishery officials who don't comply with the new laws.

After more than 16 hours of meetings, the EU Council of Ministers finally reached an agreement last night on new regulations on controls and penalties in the fishing sector.

One of the main innovations is the introduction of a "points system", similar to that used for drivers, whereby fishermen will have points added to their licence for not sticking to the laws.  Once the maximum number of points has been added, the fisherman in question will lose his licence.

The ministers have reached a "political agreement" with regard to introducing the new system, but the administration of the system is still to be decided by the European Commission and each country's experts.

According to sources within the EU, the idea is for the points system to be introduced "as soon as possible"

Although many of the 27 countries were against the system, resulting in many hours of debate, Spain was in favour right from the beginning

As a result of the prolonged debate, more warnings will be given before licences are withdrawn and those fishermen who lose their licence will do so for shorter periods of time than originally proposed by the EU.

The majority of the new regulations are due to be introduced in January 2011, but it is not known whether or not this date will also apply to the new points system.  In theory, the EU wanted it to begin in 2010.
 
In the end, the EU is not going to restrict recreational fishing as had been suggested, as many of the northern countries were against the idea. 

The EU will be increasing the number of inspections and controls in ports, at transport depots and wherever fish is sold, as well as using making better use of technology to improve surveillance.