The European Union agreed last week to end overfishing and rebuild stocks by 2020, the latest step in efforts to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. Officials said a deal to follow scientific advice when setting quotas could increase fish stocks by up to 16.5 million tons by the end of the decade, and the deal will end annual fights over catch quotas in Brussels. This move follows developments last month in which fisheries ministers agreed to an overfishing plan that failed to ban discards, the practice of throwing edible fish, many dead or dying, back into the ocean to meet quotas. Campaigners say the latest vote is a victory for fisheries reform. "For all its loopholes and sluggish timelines the policy agreed last night has the potential to turn Europe’s destructive and oversized fishing industry into a sustainable, low-impact sector," said Simon Clydesdale of Greenpeace. The measure will allow nations to reallocate quotas from large to small operators, reducing overfishing while helping small fishermen. Officials called setting quotas at levels where stocks could rebuild rather than stabilize, and the UK fisheries minister praised the end of "the one-size-fits-all approach to decision-making." For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22717796 and http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-eu-fisheries-reform-idUKBRE94T04N20130530. Earlier: http://elr.info/international/international-update/eu-fisheries-limit-fail-fully-ban-discards.