Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2015)413 - Fixing for 2016 of the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2015)413 - Fixing for 2016 of the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2015)413  |
| date | 02-09-2015 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, the exploitation of living marine biological resources shall restore and maintain populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield. One important tool in this respect is the annual fixing of fishing opportunities in the form of total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas.
The objective of this proposal is to fix, for the commercially most important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, the fishing opportunities for Member States for 2016. With a view to simplifying and clarifying the annual TAC and quota decisions, fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea have been fixed by a separate Regulation since 2006.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
The proposal establishes quotas at the levels consistent with the objectives of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy. It takes into account the recent changes introduced by the Regulation (EU) 2015/812 which abolished the fishing effort system for cod stocks in the Baltic Sea (Article4(4)(c)).
• Consistency with other Union policies
The proposed measures are in accordance with the objectives and rules of the Common Fisheries Policy and are consistent with the Union’s policy on sustainable development.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
Article 43(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The proposal falls under the Union’s exclusive competence as referred to in Article 3(1)(d) TFEU. The subsidiarity principle therefore does not apply.
• Proportionality
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reasons.
The Common Fisheries Policy is a common policy. According to Article 43(3) TFEU it is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.
The Council Regulation in question allocates fishing opportunities to Member States. Having regard to Article 16(6) and (7) and Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Member States are free to allocate such opportunities among regions or operators according to the criteria set in the mentioned Articles. Therefore, Member States have ample room for manoeuvre on decisions related to the social/economic model of their choice to exploit their allocated fishing opportunities.
The proposal has no new financial implications for Member States. This particular Regulation is adopted by the Council every year, and the public and private means to implement it are already in place.
• Choice of the instrument
Proposed instrument: Regulation.
This is a proposal for fisheries management on the basis of Article 43(3) TFEU.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Stakeholder consultations
The Baltic Sea Advisory Council (BSAC) was consulted at its Joint Demersal/Pelagic Working Group meeting in June 2015 on the basis of the Communication from the Commission concerning Consultation on the Fishing Opportunities for 2016 under the Common Fisheries Policy (COM(2015) 239 final). The scientific basis for the proposal was provided by ICES. The preliminary views expressed on all the fish stocks concerned were considered and taken into account as far as possible in the proposal without contradicting existing policies or causing any deterioration in the state of vulnerable resources.
The scientific advice on catch limitations was also discussed with MS in the regional forum BALTFISH in June 2015.
• Collection and use of expertise
The scientific organisations consulted were the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
The Union asks ICES each year for scientific advice on the state of important fish stocks. The advice received covers all Baltic stocks for which TACs are proposed.
• Impact assessment
The total amount of the Baltic fishing opportunities expressed in tones proposed for 2016 will decrease by 15% when compared to 2015 and will be set at the level of approximately 570 thousand tonnes 1 . Those fishing opportunities expressed in number of individual fish will increase by 6% and will amount to 115 874 pieces.
When calculated on the stock basis, an increase is observed in quotas of two herring stocks – on average by 10%, Main Basin salmon – 10%, plaice – 18% while decreases are observed for Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Riga herring stocks – on average by 28%, Gulf of Finland salmon – by 24%, eastern cod stock – by 20% and sprat – by 14%.
Based on average landed fish prices observed in 2013 among eight Baltic Sea countries 2 , the value of fishing opportunities in 2016 will amount to approximately 256 million euros. This represents a decrease by 19%. The biggest decrease is observed in Gulf of Bothnia herring TAC, i.e. from 62 million euros in 2015 to 38 million euros in 2016. However taking into account the fact that the herring quota in 2014 was not fully utilised and presuming that the same catch rate remains in 2016, the reduction in quota value will be less significant. Although the sprat quota is to be reduced by 14%, the value of the quota will increase by about 100 thousand euros. This is due to the price increase by 17% which in 2013 amounted to 289 EUR /tonne.
The proposal reflects not only short-term concerns but is also part of a longer-term approach whereby the level of fishing is gradually reduced to and maintained at long-term sustainable levels. The approach taken in line with the proposal will therefore, in the medium to long term, result in a stable fishing effort and higher quotas. The long term effects of the approach are expected to be more sustainable fishing activities and increased landings
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
The proposal continues to provide for simplification of administrative procedures for public authorities (EU or national), as it contains provisions similar to those of the 2015 Regulation on the fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea.
The present regulation simplifies the fisheries management as it no longer limits the fishery by way of establishing fixed number of days at sea that fishing vessels could spend fishing in previous years. This will reduce the administrative burden on the MS. As concluded by scientists the absence of the fishing effort limitation will not jeopardise the stock status as the effective monitoring of the quota uptake is sufficient to control the fishing pressure on the stocks.
The proposal concerns an annual Regulation for the year 2016 and therefore does not include a revision clause.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The proposal has no implications for the EU budget.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
The monitoring of the use of fishing opportunities in the form of TACs and quotas has been established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
The proposal fixes for 2016 the fishing opportunities for certain stocks or groups of stocks for Member States fishing in the Baltic Sea.
The landing obligation for stocks caught in certain fisheries started became applicable from 1 January 2015. In the Baltic Sea these fisheries cover stocks under TACs and quotas in this Regulation, namely: small pelagic fisheries (herring and sprat stocks), salmon fisheries (salmon stocks), as well as, cod fisheries (cod stocks), where the species define the fishery. Catches of species that do not define the fisheries but are covered by TACs, i.e. plaice will be covered by the landing obligation in the Baltic from 1 January 2017 as stipulated in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1396/2014.
With introduction of the landing obligation, in accordance with Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the fishing opportunities proposed shall reflect the change from amount landed to amount caught. Such change has been exercised for 2015 fishing opportunities regulation and is no longer applicable for the stocks mentioned above.
The fishing opportunities should also be fixed in accordance with Articles 16(1) (referring to the principle of relative stability) and 16 i (referring to the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy and the rules provided for in multiannual plans).
The proposed figures reflect current scientific advice and consultation with the BSAC. Where relevant, in order to set the EU quotas for stocks shared with the Russian Federation, the respective quantities of these stocks were deducted from the TACs advised by ICES.
Given the Commission’s intention of ensuring the sustainable use of fishery resources in line with the Union’s policy and international commitments while maintaining stable fishing opportunities, annual variations in TACs are limited as far as practicable taking account of the status of a given stock.
The TACs and quotas allocated to Member States are shown in the Annex to the Regulation.
All five pelagic stocks (four stocks of herring and one sprat stock), plaice and Main Basin salmon in the Baltic Sea are to be fished at MSY levels in 2016; therefore the TACs proposed correspond to the MSY fishing mortality. The TACs for Gulf of Finland salmon and eastern cod correspond to the approach developed by ICES which is applied to data limited stocks. The advice and the TAC for western cod stock still to be clarified by ICES.
Due to changes in biology of the eastern cod stock, ICES did not provide biological reference points for this stock, i.e. actual fishing mortality. The plan has been developed under the assumption that the cod growth remains stable which is no longer the case. In recent years, as recognized by ICES, the growth of the eastern cod stock has been reduced dramatically and the biological reference points can no longer be established. Therefore according to ICES, the multi-annual plan for Baltic cod stocks cannot be used as a basis for an advice for eastern cod stock and instead ICES advised the TAC based on the data limited approach. This renders Articles 6, 7 and 8 of the multiannual plan inapplicable for eastern cod stock in 2016, as the rules for setting TACs contained in the plan are based on these reference points. Therefore, pending a proposal for a new multi-annual plan for the Baltic and in order to prevent that the eastern cod stock is over-exploited due to lack of established TACs, it is appropriate to fix the fishing opportunities based on the approach developed by ICES, in accordance with Article 5(1) of the plan and 43(3) of the Treaty.
Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 introduced additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs, including flexibility provisions under Articles 3 and 4 for precautionary and analytical stocks respectively. Under its Article 2, when fixing the TACs, the Council shall decide to which stocks Articles 3 and 4 shall not apply, in particular on the basis of the biological status of the stocks. More recently, the flexibility mechanism was introduced for all stocks covered by the landing obligation by Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive flexibility that would undermine the principle of rational and responsible exploitation of living marine biological resources and hinder the achievement of the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy, it should be clarified that Article 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 apply only where Member States do not use the year-to-year flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of Regulation 1380/2013.