Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2017)97 - Multi-annual plan for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2017)97 - Multi-annual plan for small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks.
source	COM(2017)97
date	24-02-2017

1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

The Adriatic Sea (Geographical sub-areas 17 and 18 of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean) ¹ is an important sub-area within the Mediterranean, accounting for around one third of the total landings value. ² Small pelagic species (which swim near the surface) are an important component of the Adriatic fishery, representing a high economic income for the fisheries sector in that sea basin. The most valuable and sought-after small pelagic species in the Adriatic Sea are anchovy and sardine.

Anchovy and sardine account for almost all catches of small pelagic fisheries, ³ with anchovy being the more valuable of the two species and the one that drives the fishery. The vast majority are caught by Italy and Croatia, in the northern part of the Adriatic. The only other Member States involved in the fishery are Slovenia, which accounts for less than 1 % of total catches, and Albania and Montenegro who have an equally small fraction of catches.3

Currently, small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea are governed by several legal frameworks, at national, EU and international level. Croatia, Italy and Slovenia have all adopted national management plans under Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 of 21 December 2006 concerning management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea, amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 (the Mediterranean Regulation), ⁴ covering purse seiners and pelagic trawls, which are the gears involved in the small pelagic fisheries. At EU level a limited amount of discarding is allowed under a three year discard plan. ⁵ A management plan ⁶ and successive emergency measures ⁷ have been adopted at international level by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM).

Despite these management measures, the most recent scientific advice indicates that anchovy and sardine in the Adriatic Sea are still being overexploited and the stocks are likely to decline further. The situation is getting worse as we are moving further away from sustainable fishing levels and we are far from the target of exploiting stocks at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) by 2020 at the latest, as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC ⁸ (the ‘Basic Regulation’). According to the latest scientific advice, catches need to be decreased considerably for both species to reach sustainable levels of fishing. ⁹

The existing management framework is based primarily on limitation of fishing effort and capacity, coupled with several additional measures such as spatio-temporal closures and minimum landing sizes. However, the exact measures vary both geographically (between the three Member States and in international waters) and have also been changed several times in recent years. For example, closed periods (when fishing is not allowed) are different between the three Adriatic Member States and have also changed on an annual basis in the past five years. This constantly evolving and complex management framework makes it harder for the fishing industry to remain aware of the rules currently in force and therefore to implement them. Having a single stock managed under different rules in different parts of its range is also less effective. For example, closing one area to fishing under one Member States’ national rules may simply result in the fishing effort being shifted to another part of the Adriatic Sea, and of the stock, where fishing is allowed at that time.

Evaluations of the existing management framework have concluded that it is ineffective and insufficient to ensure the stocks will be fished sustainably by 2020. The EU’s Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) ¹⁰ has advised that managers consider using catch (or landings) restrictions as a more effective management tool for small pelagics ¹¹ ¹² For small pelagic stocks, which school (occur in dense aggregations) management on the basis of effort is considered to be more risky. For example, even if effort is reduced by 20 %, this does not necessarily translate into a 20 % reduction in catches or fishing mortality. If a vessel comes across a school of small pelagic fish, it can take a large quantity in a short amount of time. Reducing catches, on the other hand, translates directly into an equivalent reduction of fishing mortality.

This proposal addresses the problem of overexploitation of small pelagic stocks due to an unsustainable fishery and ineffective governance. The main objective of the multiannual plan is to return the stocks and the fisheries sector to a healthy state by ensuring that the fishery is made sustainable. This will ensure that the fishing sector can continue to rely on this resource in the long term. The multiannual plan will also facilitate the introduction of the landing obligation by providing a basis for derogations in certain circumscribed situations. Establishing a multiannual plan will also enable regionalisation to be used, whereby Member States around sea basins are involved in the conception and design of management rules for the interested parties. The idea is to increase their ownership by fishing operators, and their enforcement and, ultimately, their efficacy. This will also lighten the decision-making process, making it more effective and responsive to evolving circumstances, and bringing it closer to stakeholders in cases where issues of highly technical nature are at stake.

A multiannual plan would include target fishing mortalities expressed in ranges for each of the stocks, where available, which would be the basis for setting annual catch limits for those stocks. Additionally, the multiannual plan would incorporate safeguard measures to give a framework to restore stocks when they fall below safe biological limits.

The multiannual-plan will apply to all EU fishing vessels irrespective of their overall participation in fishing in the Adriatic Sea (in EU and international waters). This is in conformity with the rules of the common fisheries policy (CFP) and is in line with the effect of the vessels on the fish stocks concerned.

The following provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 (‘the Basic Regulation’) are of relevance to the multiannual plan:

• Articles 9 and 10 of the Basic Regulation contain provisions on the objectives and contents of multi-annual plans. In accordance with Article 10 of the Basic Regulation multi-annual plans should contain quantifiable targets. Such targets should be supplemented with safeguard provisions linked to a trigger conservation reference point.

• Pursuant to Article 15 of the Basic Regulation the landing obligation applies to small pelagic fisheries (i.e. fisheries for mackerel, herring, horse mackerel, blue whiting, boarfish, anchovy, argentine, sardine, sprat), anywhere in EU waters, since 1 January 2015. In accordance with Article 15(5) of the Basic Regulation, details of the implementation of the landing obligation must be specified in multiannual plans, including:

(a)specific provisions regarding fisheries or species covered by the landing obligation;

(b)the specification of exemptions to the landing obligation;

(c)provisions for de minimis exemptions of up to 5 % of total annual catches of all species subject to the landing obligation, in order to avoid disproportionate costs of handling unwanted catches.

• In accordance with Article 18 of the Basic Regulation, Member States having direct management interest may submit joint recommendations for certain measures to be adopted, where the Commission has been granted power to adopt implementing or delegated acts to achieve the objectives set out in the multiannual plan.

The multiannual plan also contains specific control provisions destined to adapt to the specific context of the Adriatic small pelagic fisheries, the general control measures established in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006, ¹³ which provides for the legislative framework of control, inspection and enforcement to ensure compliance with the rules of the CFP. The relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 are the following:

• According to Article 9, a fishing vessel that is twelve metres or more in length must have on board a fully functioning device installed, which allows that vessel to be automatically located and identified through the vessel monitoring system by transmitting position data at regular intervals. It must also allow the fisheries monitoring centre of the flag Member State to poll the fishing vessel.

• According to Article 15, masters of EU fishing vessels that are twelve metres or more in length must use electronic logbooks and must send it by electronic means to the competent authority of the flag Member State at least once a day.

• According to Article 17, masters of EU fishing vessels that have an overall length of twelve metres or more and are engaged in fisheries on stocks covered by a multiannual plan, and are under the obligation to record fishing logbook data electronically, must notify the competent authorities of their flag Member State a set of information about the vessel and catches at least four hours before the estimated time of arrival at port.

• It may be appropriate to adapt these provisions to the specific nature of a given fishery through a multiannual plan.

• In line with Article 43 multiannual plans may set the thresholds above which catches of stocks must be landed in designated ports.

An overview of the specific provisions of the multiannual plan is presented in Section 5.

• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council sets the general framework for the CFP and identifies the situations in which the Council and the European Parliament must adopt multi-annual plans.

This proposal on a multiannual plan for small pelagics in the Adriatic Sea follows the same approach to determine the objectives, targets and safeguards of the multiannual plan and for the implementation of the landing obligation as the recently adopted Regulation (EU) No 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 establishing a multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007. ¹⁴

Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms ¹⁵ outlines technical conservation measures, i.e. catch composition rules, minimum mesh size, minimum landing sizes, closed areas and closed seasons for certain fisheries. It is currently under review and will be replaced if the Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conservation of fishery resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures ¹⁶ is adopted. This proposal would allow Member States to amend technical measures through the process of regionalisation.

• Consistency with other Union policies

This proposal and its objectives are consistent with the European Union’s policies, in particular environmental policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) ¹⁷ and its objectives of reaching good environmental status of EU marine waters by 2020.

2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

• Legal basis

The legal basis for this proposal is Article 43(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

• Subsidiarity principle

Provisions of the proposal relate to the conservation of marine biological resources, measures that fall under the exclusive competence of the European Union. This proposal respects the principle of subsidiarity and fulfils its requirements. Both anchovy and sardine stocks and the fishing vessels concerned move freely across international boundaries so action at Member State level alone is unlikely to be effective in achieving the objectives. For measures to be effective, these should be taken in a coordinated manner and made applicable to the whole area of distribution of the stock and to all fleets concerned.

• Proportionality principle

The proposed measures comply with the proportionality principle as they are appropriate, necessary and no other less restrictive measures are available to obtain the desired policy objectives. There is widespread agreement among stakeholders consulted that the current legislative framework consisting of national legislation, an EU discard plan and measures adopted by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean are not sufficient to achieve the sustainability objectives of CFP.

• Choice of instrument

The proposed instrument is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

3. RESULTS OF EX POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

In preparing this proposal and its accompanying impact assessment; consultation has taken place at different levels including: stakeholders, scientists, individual citizens, public administrations and relevant Commission departments.

• Stakeholder consultations

Stakeholders were consulted in a targeted manner and in particular through consulting the Mediterranean Sea Advisory Council (MEDAC), ¹⁸ which is the most representative fisheries stakeholders’ organisation in the Mediterranean. The MEDAC represents all the parties concerned by this proposal. This included the fisheries sector, including small-scale fisheries, the processing sector, trade unions and other interest groups such as environmental organisations, consumer groups and sports/recreational fishery associations which operate in the Mediterranean area under the CFP.

Since 2014 MEDAC has set up a working group specifically devoted to the development of the multiannual plan for the small pelagics in the Adriatic. The working group held six meetings, where representatives of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Fisheries (DG MARE), the European Fisheries Control Agency, the scientific research community, industry representatives and Member States fisheries administrations took part. ¹⁹ In March 2016, the MEDAC adopted an advice on the multiannual plan for small pelagics in the Northern Adriatic. ²⁰ Some of the measures recommended by the MEDAC have been included in this proposal, namely: to expand the use of electronic logbooks and electronic systems to monitor a vessel’s position and to include measures necessary for implementing the landing obligation.

The Commission also organised a scientific and technical seminar on small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea on 18 September 2015 bringing together the scientists, the MEDAC and the Member States’ fisheries administrations. There was general agreement that anchovy and sardine are over exploited and that it is time to act.

This was followed by a workshop on the implementation of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in the different case studies, including the small pelagic stocks in the Adriatic on 21-25 September 2015. This workshop was organised in the context of a Commission funded project on management scenarios for the preparation of multiannual management plans for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. This meeting enabled different actors (the Commission, MEDAC, independent experts, consultants carrying out the project) to discuss and agree on the different management possibilities, criteria and planned scenarios to reach FMSY in the context of this project.

A consultation of stakeholders involved in Mediterranean fisheries (including eight Member States’ authorities, research institutes from eight Member States, five NGOs, industry representatives from eight Member States, the MEDAC, and STECF) was also carried out in the context of the Retrospective Evaluation study of the Mediterranean Sea Regulation, ²¹ which includes a specific case study on small pelagics in the Adriatic Sea. This provided relevant input regarding the problem definition and the effectiveness of the current framework. The stakeholders overwhelmingly agreed that fish stocks in the Mediterranean were severely overexploited and the majority of respondents across all stakeholder categories stated that no observed improvement in stock status had occurred to date. Another critical issue identified included concerns about future socio-economic sustainability in Mediterranean fisheries.

In addition to this, a wide-ranging, internet-based, public consultation on Northern Adriatic small pelagic fisheries was carried out between 22 May 2015 and 11 September 2015. ²² A total of 15 detailed contributions were received from Member States, the MEDAC, industry representatives, NGOs, and private citizens. The main conclusions were as follows:

• Most contributors agreed on the need for an EU multiannual plan, because the current legal framework does not take into account the specificities of the region’s fisheries and it does not fully implement the CFP, in particular the regionalisation principle.

• The current framework is considered to be too complex.

• The EU’s intervention should be limited to the orientation and determination of the objectives.

• Interactions between fisheries and environmental factors should be taken into account.

• Measures should concern only target species.

• Technical measures and additional measures on the landing obligation should be adopted via regionalisation and not fixed in the multiannual plan.

• Technical measures should focus on spatial-temporal closures rather than on increases in selectivity based on mesh size.

• The multi-annual plan should have an adaptive approach and should be proportionate to the share of catches by the different fleets concerned.

• Collection and use of expertise

In addition to the public consultation work described above, and the retrospective evaluation study described in the next section, several key studies underpinned this proposal.

In 2014, the Commission contracted a study entitled ‘Improved knowledge of the main socio-economic aspects related to the most important fisheries in the Adriatic Sea’. The study aims to identify the main fisheries in the Adriatic, to describe the state of stock assessments and scientific advice for the relevant stocks and to provide socio-economic information pertaining to the different fisheries undertaken by the coastal countries in the Adriatic. The study was finalised in 2015. ²³

Another study was launched by DG MARE in 2014, to assess specific management scenarios for multi-annual plans in accordance with the CFP objectives. ²⁴ The study envisaged four case studies, one of which concerned the small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic. The study then used bio-economic modelling to assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of different scenarios on the different fleet segments.

• Ex post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation

A study on the retrospective evaluation of the Mediterranean Regulation21 found that, despite many of the measures under this Regulation being implemented, the Mediterranean Regulation appears to be failing on the majority of its objectives in the Northern Adriatic region, or results on effectiveness are inconclusive due to limited supporting evidence. For example, all national authorities that were consulted in the context of this study perceived little or no impacts in reducing fishing effort in the Northern Adriatic region and the Mediterranean Regulation has had a limited impact on number of vessels and employment in Italy and Croatia.

National management plans adopted by Member States under the Mediterranean Regulation have been analysed by the STECF ²⁵ based on a dedicated study. ²⁶ STECF concluded that under the existing national management plans, reductions in catches are insufficient to reach sustainable fishing levels by 2020. Therefore, STECF considers that, unless changes are made to the national management plans, it is very unlikely that the objectives of the CFP will be achieved.

Regarding the international measures implemented under the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), a bio-economic assessment of management measures for anchovy and sardine fisheries in the Adriatic Sea was carried out by the GFCM in 2015. ²⁷ Simulations show that current fishing mortalities ²⁸ are too high, including under the emergency measures adopted by the GFCM. If continued, anchovy and sardine stocks would remain outside biological safe limits or even collapse between 2020 and 2030.

• Impact assessment

The impact assessment for a multiannual plan for small pelagics in the Adriatic Sea has taken place in the context of the new CFP and the redrafting of the technical measures regulations. The following impact assessments are therefore of relevance to this proposal:

• The reform of the CFP ²⁹ .

• Impacts of the introduction of the landing obligation ³⁰ , ³¹ .

• Socio-economic dimensions of the CFP ³² .

• The development of a new technical measures regulation ³³ .

In addition, an impact assessment on this legal proposal to establish a multiannual plan for small pelagic stocks and their fisheries in the Adriatic Sea was carried out.

1. The policy options considered in this impact assessment were the following:

• Option 0: Using non-legislative instruments or ‘soft law’ (discarded early on);

• Option 1: The status quo (baseline scenario against which other options were compared);

• Option 2: The elaborating of an EU Regulation to manage small pelagic fisheries, with the objective to have stocks sustainably fished by either 2018 or 2020 (two sub-options). Under Option 2, a new management mechanism is proposed, focusing on the output of the fishery, by setting catch-limits. This approach has been successfully tested in other EU waters, resulting in improved stocks status;

• Option 3: Attempting to amend the current management framework (national and international legislation), which could result in a best-case or a worst-case scenario depending on whether the attempts succeed.

The preferred option was Option 2 — an EU Regulation to manage small pelagic fisheries — which is the only option that was found to deliver on all the objectives. Broadly speaking, the expected outcome of Option 2 will be an improved conservation status of anchovy and sardine, which would ultimately result in a healthier and more sustainable fishing sector dependent on this resource, with better salaries for individual fishers and greater profitability overall compared to the status quo.

The transition to this more sustainable state of the fisheries is likely to require a reduction in the fishing sector including the level of employment and the overall revenue to the sector. As catches decrease, prices at first sale are likely to increase which could compensate to some extent the reduced revenues of the fishing sector due to a decline in catches. The processing sector (in particular in Croatia and Italy) may need to increase their imports from other countries. There are specific financial instruments and measures available to assist the sectors concerned during this transition.

Within Option 2, the target date of 2020 to achieve sustainable fishing is preferable over 2018 in terms of acceptability by stakeholders, who overwhelmingly expressed a preference for 2020. It is also the more realistic considering the likely timing of the EU multi-annual plan entering into force.

None of the stakeholders consulted have evoked soft law (Option 0) as a feasible option. During the public consultation, only one stakeholder responded that the current framework (Option 1) is sufficient. All respondents except one felt that amending the current framework would not be sufficient (Option 3). The MEDAC (consisting of industry and civil society representatives), NGOs, public authorities, scientific institutes, and Croatia, Italy and Slovenia supported the development of a multi-annual plan (Option 2), with a strong preference for the sub-option ‘2020’.

• Regulatory fitness and simplification

This proposal is not an initiative within the Regulatory Fitness Programme. Nevertheless, it would contribute to the simplification of applicable European Union legislation. The multi-annual plan would provide a single instrument containing all the provisions relating to the management of these fisheries at EU level, whereas the current system consists of provisions in three existing national management plans that are adopted by three separate national regulations in addition to an EU discard plan.

The current management framework is complex and also constantly changing. Simplification, increased stability and transparency would therefore significantly improve to the current situation.

The multiannual plan would also provide for a simpler and more transparent management system than currently in terms of translating scientific advice into management measures. Scientists would provide their scientific advice on a yearly basis, including what the catch-limits for each stock should be to ensure sustainable fishing levels. With an output-control system, the required reduction in fishing mortality is directly translated into reductions in catches, which is not the case with input control (e.g. based on effort or capacity management). This multiannual would also increase the stability and predictability of resource availability for the small pelagic fisheries sector.

The CFP is a policy specifically geared to deal with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the norm within the fishing sector, rather than the exception. In the Adriatic small pelagic fishery, almost all fishing businesses and the vast majority of companies in the processing sector are micro-enterprises or SMEs. There is therefore no basis to exclude them from the scope of this proposal on the basis of their size or else the vast majority of the sector would be excluded, rendering this proposal pointless. The EU multiannual plan would therefore apply to all businesses including SMEs and micro-enterprises. All the impacts described above are therefore likely to apply to all enterprises, to a varying degree depending on how Member States will decide to allocate the necessary reductions in fishing to the different fleet segments.

• Fundamental rights

This proposal is fully in line with the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU ³⁴ and in particular with Article 37 of the Charter, which provides that a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the European Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development.

4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

There are no budgetary implications.

5. OTHER ELEMENTS

• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements

Monitoring some of the effects of management measures is done as part of the routine work associated with the implementation of the CFP. The data required to monitor the socio-economic and environmental impacts of the multiannual plan are already collected by Member States under EU legislation on data collection. ³⁵ The STECF also carries out a regular assessment of the state of anchovy and sardine, and of the socio-economic performance of both the fisheries and processing sectors. Impacts of the multiannual plan on markets will be monitored biennially through the EU Market Observatory for Fisheries and Aquaculture products (EUMOFA). ³⁶ Therefore baseline data are available and a process is in place to monitor the operational objectives mentioned above as well as socio-economic impacts of the multiannual plan.

The multiannual plan provides that a periodic evaluation of its impact on the stocks concerned based on scientific advice is carried out. It is paramount to identify an appropriate period for this evaluation: a period that allows for regionalised measures to be adopted, implemented and to show their impact on the stocks and fishery. The timing of the evaluation should also take account of the delay that exists between the collection of biological and socio-economic data and the working method of scientific bodies that assess those data. STECF recommended that three years’ worth of data on impacts should be used to assess the multiannual plans. STECF also suggested that it takes five years from implementing the plan to obtain three years’ worth of data available. ³⁷ Therefore the multiannual plan should be evaluated every five years.

In this respect it should be noted that the periodic evaluation of the impact of the multiannual plan does not prevent the legislators from amending the plan, should new scientific, political or socio-economic developments arise.

• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal

In accordance with the overall ambition of the CFP on the conservation of fisheries resources and taking into account Articles 9 and 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 which lays down the principles, objectives and contents of multiannual plans, the main elements of the plan are as follows:

• The scope of the multiannual plan targets small pelagic stocks. More specifically anchovy, sardine, mackerel and horse mackerel and the fisheries exploiting those stocks in the Adriatic Sea.

• The objectives of the multiannual plan are to contribute to the objectives of the CFP, and in particular reaching and maintaining the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for the stocks concerned, achieving a sustainable fisheries sector and providing an effective management framework. The multiannual plan also contributes to enabling the implementation of the landing obligation.

• The proposed targets are expressed as fishing mortality ranges around FMSY as recommended by STECF with a deadline of 2020 at the latest. These FMSY ranges allow for a maximum sustainable yield-based management for the stocks concerned and provide a high level of predictability to the sector. Targets have been included for anchovy and sardine and the ranges were advised by the STECF9. These ranges allow for a MSY-based management for these stocks, and appear to allow for adaptations in case of changes in the scientific advice, while at the same time preserving a high level of predictability. Where data is available for fish stocks, these reference points are expressed as a spawning stock biomass.

• The conservation reference points, expressed in tonnes of spawning stock biomass or abundance in numbers, included in the multiannual plan are determined by STECF.

• Safeguards and specific conservation measures are linked to the conservation reference points. When scientific advice states that any of the stocks concerned is below that point, the allowable catches for that stock should be reduced. This measure may be complemented when necessary by measures such as technical measures or Commission or Member State emergency measures. Some of these measures may be adopted through regionalisation.

• Provisions linked to the landing obligation to be adopted under regionalisation are necessary to prolong (and/or amend) exemptions from the landing obligation for species where scientific evidence demonstrates high survival rates, and de minimis exemptions, in line with the development of scientific advice. Currently such exemptions, adopted under the Discard Plan for the Mediterranean5, have a three year lifespan.

• The multiannual plan establishes regional cooperation among Member States in respect of adopting provisions for the landing obligation and specific conservation measures, including technical measures, for certain stocks.

• Control provisions are provided on the vessel monitoring system, prior notification, electronic logbooks and designated ports. On prior notification, it is necessary to adapt the general rules in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 to the particularities of the Adriatic Sea and its small pelagic fisheries. Regarding electronic logbooks and the vessel monitoring system, the provisions included in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 are extended to cover all vessels over eight metres in length, to improve control of the fisheries covered by the multiannual plan. Regarding designated ports, a threshold is provided in this proposal above where anchovy and sardine should only be landed in ports with enhanced controls.

• Periodic evaluation of the multiannual plan based on scientific advice: the plan should be evaluated every five years. This period allows, initially, for the full implementation of the landing obligation and for regionalised measures to be adopted, implemented and to show effects on the stocks and fishery. This is also a minimum period required by scientific bodies37.