Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2018)229 - Multiannual recovery plan for Mediterranean swordfish - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2018)229 - Multiannual recovery plan for Mediterranean swordfish. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2018)229  |
| date | 24-04-2018 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
The objective of the common fisheries policy (CFP), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 1 (the Basic Regulation), is to ensure an exploitation of marine living biological resources that provides long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability.
By Council Decision 98/392/EC 2 the Union approved the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which contains, inter alia, principles and rules with regard to the conservation and management of marine living biological resources. In the framework of its wider international obligations, the Union participates in efforts made in international waters to conserve fish stocks.
Pursuant to Council Decision 86/238/EEC 3 , the Union has been a Contracting Party to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (the ICCAT Convention) since 14 November 1997.
The ICCAT Convention provides for a framework of regional cooperation on the conservation and management of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and the adjoining seas through the setting up of an International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (the ICCAT).
The ICCAT has the authority to adopt compulsory decisions (recommendations) for the conservation and management of the fisheries under its purview, which are binding for the Contracting Parties. Those recommendations are essentially addressed to the Contracting Parties to the ICCAT Convention, but also contain obligations for private operators (e.g. vessel masters). The ICCAT recommendations enter into force six months following their adoption and, in respect to the Union, they must be implemented into Union law as soon as possible.
During the 2016 ICCAT Annual Meeting held in Vilamoura (Portugal), the ICCAT CPCs 4 took a decisive step to address the alarming situation of Mediterranean swordfish (Xiphias gladius) by adopting a 15-year recovery plan in the ICCAT Recommendation 16-05. The recommendation lays down rules for the conservation, management and control of the Mediterranean stock of swordfish as to achieve a biomass corresponding to a maximum sustainable yield by 2031 with at least 60% probability of achieving that objective.
Contents
The European Union, by letter addressed to the ICCAT Secretariat in December 2016, confirmed the implementation of ICCAT Recommendation 16-05 as of 1 January 2017
The purpose of this proposal is to transpose ICCAT Recommendation 16-05 into EU law to allow the Union to comply with its international obligations and to provide operators with legal certainty regarding rules and obligations.
ICCAT Recommendation 16-05 establishing a multiannual recovery plan for Mediterranean swordfish requires discarding and releasing swordfish in certain circumstances. For the purpose of the Union's compliance with its international obligations under the ICCAT, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/191 5 provides for derogations from the landing obligation for Mediterranean swordfish, as provided in Article 15 of the Basic Regulation. Consequently, this Regulation establishing a recovery plan for Mediterranean swordfish, does not need to cover such discard and release obligations and will be without prejudice to the corresponding provisions of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/191.
Article 15 i of the Basic Regulation states that the landing obligation should be implemented without prejudice to the Union's international obligations. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts for the purpose of implementing such international obligations into Union law, including in particular, derogations from the landing obligation.
ICCAT Recommendation 16-05 obliges to discard swordfish on board vessels, including in sport and recreational fisheries that exceed the allocated quota of the vessel, and/or the maximum level of permitted by-catches. Mediterranean swordfish caught on board vessels that are below the minimum conservation reference size will also have to be discarded, with the exception of a given by-catch limit established by Member States in their annual fishing plans.
Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 6 fixes for 2017 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters. These fishing opportunities are usually amended several times during the period in which they are in effect.
With the adoption of ICCAT Recommendation 16-05, a total allowable catch ('TAC') for Mediterranean swordfish was set at 10 500 tonnes. The TAC was, however, not allocated to the CPCs by the ICCAT and hence the Union's share was at the time of publication of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 undetermined. The ICCAT was to convene a Working Group to define a fair and equitable allocation scheme of the TAC for Mediterranean swordfish, and to establish a quota for the CPCs for 2017.
The Working Group met in Madrid on the 20-22 February 2017, and an agreement was reached between the Parties on the quota allocation for 2017 and a compromise was found for managing the quota uptake for 2017.
It was therefore relevant to amend Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 to provide legal certainty to operators, both on the quantities of Mediterranean swordfish they could catch in 2017, and on the establishment of areas where catch limitations exist. That was done through Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1398 7 .
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
Mediterranean swordfish was only regulated through technical measures under Article 25 of Regulation (EC) N° 1967/2006 of 21 December 2006 concerning management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea 8 , and later on by Articles 20 to 26 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2017 laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention area of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EC) No 1984/2003 and (EC) No 520/2007 9 .
Throughout the negotiations the EU position was in line with the objectives of Articles 2 i, 28(1) and i, 29 and 33 of the Basic Regulation.
The measures adopted by ICCAT Recommendation 16-05, which are transposed by this Regulation, are more restrictive or more precise that those measures already in force (see above) to allow the recovery of the stock. The main differences could be summarized as follows:
a) Minimum conservation reference size: Article 11 of the present Regulation defines the minimum conservation reference size as measuring less than 100 cm Lower Jaw to Fork Length (LJFL), or weighing less than 11,4 kg of round weight, or 10,2 kg of gilled and gutted weight. It is therefore more restrictive than Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 that defines it as 90 cm of LJFL or, alternatively, weighing less than 10 kg of round weight or 9 kg of gilled and gutted weight, or 7,5 kg of dressed weight (gilled, gutted, fins off, part of head off);
b) Maximum number of hooks: Article 14 of the present Regulation sets out that the maximum number of hooks that may be set by or taken on board of fishing vessels targeting Mediterranean swordfish shall be fixed at 2 500 hooks. It is therefore more restrictive than Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 that defines that 'By way of derogation from Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006, the maximum number of hooks that may be set by or taken on board of vessels targeting Mediterranean swordfish shall be fixed at 2 800 hooks';
c) Closure period: The closure period from 1st January until 31st March each year has been already adopted by Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1398 of 25 July 2017 amending Regulation (EU) 2017/127 as regards certain fishing opportunities 10 and in Council Regulation (EU) 2018/120 of 23 January 2018, fixing for 2018 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters 11 . Therefore, the closure periods defined in Article 23 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 are no longer valid;
d) Definition of TAC and quota allocation have been already transposed in 2017 and are now included in the Council Regulation (EU) 2018/120 of 23 January 2018, fixing for 2018 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters. Therefore, it is not necessary to include the transposition of the fishing opportunities here.
• Consistency with other Union policies
The ICCAT Recommendation 16-05, which is the object of this transposition, states clearly in its paragraph 1 that Contracting Parties whose vessels have been actively fishing for swordfish in the Mediterranean shall implement a 15-year Recovery plan starting in 2017 and continuing through 2031, with the goal of achieving Bmsy with at least 60% probability. The objective and maximum duration of the plan (2031) seem in contradiction with the objective of the Common Fisheries Policy whereby the maximum sustainable yield exploitation rate (Fmsy) shall be achieved at the latest by 2020. However, some elements, in accordance with Articles 28(1) and i, 29 and 33 of the Basic Regulation, should be taken into consideration to motivate the derogation to Article 2 of the Basic Regulation:
a) the stock is not only exploited by the European Union but by all the riparian countries of the Mediterranean, some of them with direct fisheries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey) and others as incidental catches;
b) the stock is managed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), of which the European Union is one of the 51 Contracting Parties;
c) it was in November 2016, when at the view of the stock assessment presented by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (SCRS, the scientific body of ICCAT), a recovery plan was recommended;
d) the population dynamic and the exploitation pattern of this species does not allow to recover the biomass from now to 2020 and advocates for a longer period which has been fixed by the scientific advice as 15 years;
e) even applying the utmost draconian measures to the EU fleet (i.e. the total closure of the fishery), the biomass levels capable of producing the maximum sustainable yield could not be achieved at the latest by 2020;
f) there is an antecedent of a recovery plan adopted by ICCAT and transposed to the EU legislation. This was the Recovery plan for Bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, established in 2006 by ICCAT Recommendation 06-05 with also 15 years of duration (up to 2022). This Recovery plan was implemented by the Union through Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 12 . Already in 2017, in the light of the latest scientific advice by the SCRS, it was agreed that the measures contained in the Recovery plan were no longer necessary (5 years before the date limit to achieve the objective in terms of biomass).
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The proposal is based on Article 43 i TFEU, as it sets out provisions necessary for the pursuit of the objectives of the common fisheries policy.
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The proposal falls under the exclusive competence of the Union (Article 3(1)(d) TFEU). The subsidiarity principle, therefore, does not apply.
• Proportionality
The proposal will ensure that Union law, with regard to the management of Mediterranean swordfish fisheries, and in particular all the rules and obligations of the recovery plan approved by the ICCAT is in line with its international obligations and that the Union complies with the decisions taken by the RFMOs to which the Union is a Contracting Party. This will be done without exceeding what is necessary to achieve the objective pursued.
• Choice of the instrument
The instrument chosen is a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
3. RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
Not relevant.
• Stakeholder consultations
Member State administrations were informed about this proposal at the meeting of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture on 8 September 2017. The Mediterranean Advisory Council (MEDAC) has been informed about this proposal at the meeting of 10 October 2017.
• Collection and use of expertise
This is a transposition of a recommendation adopted at the level of one Regional Fisheries management Organisation (ICCAT) and in accordance with the scientific advice provided by the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics of ICCAT.
• Impact assessment
Not relevant. This is a transposition of a recommendation directly applicable to Member States.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
This proposal is not linked to REFIT.
• Fundamental rights
This proposal has not consequences on the protection of fundamental rights of the citizens.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
There are no budgetary implications.
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
The Union wrote to the ICCAT Secretariat announcing that the Union applies Recommendation ICCAT 16-05, now transposed since 1st January 2017.
• Explanatory documents (for directives)
Not applicable.
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
a) Derogation to the landing obligation
Article 15 i of the Basic Regulation states that the landing obligation should be implemented without prejudice to the Union's international obligations. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts for the purpose of implementing such international obligations into Union law, including in particular, derogations from the landing obligation.
ICCAT Recommendation 16-05 obliges to discard swordfish on board vessels, including in sport and recreational fisheries that exceed the allocated quota of the vessel, and/or the maximum level of permitted by-catches. Mediterranean swordfish caught on board vessels that are below the minimum conservation reference size will also have to be discarded, with the exception of a given by-catch limit established by Member States in their annual fishing plans.
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/191 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/98 implementing the Union's international obligations as referred to in Article 15 i of the Basic Regulation, allows discarding Mediterranean swordfish in the cases provided in ICCAT Recommendation 16-05.
b) Transposition of the fishing opportunities for 2017 and 2018
Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 13 fixes for 2017 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters. These fishing opportunities are usually amended several times during the period in which they are in effect.
With the adoption of ICCAT Recommendation 16-05, a total allowable catch ('TAC') for Mediterranean swordfish was set at 10 500 tonnes. The TAC was, however, not allocated to the CPCs by the ICCAT and hence the Union's share was at the time of publication of Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 undetermined. The ICCAT was to convene a Working Group to define a fair and equitable allocation scheme of the TAC for Mediterranean swordfish, and to establish a quota for the CPCs for 2017.
The Working Group met in Madrid on the 20-22 February 2017, and an agreement was reached between the Parties on the quota allocation for 2017 and a compromise was found for managing the quota uptake for 2017.
It was therefore relevant to amend Council Regulation (EU) 2017/127 to provide legal certainty to operators, both on the quantities of Mediterranean swordfish they could catch in 2017, and on the establishment of areas where catch limitations exist. That was done through Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1398 14 .
Council Regulation (EU) 2018/120 15 fixes for 2018 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, and amends Regulation (EU) 2017/127. Following paragraph 4 of Recommendation ICCAT 16-05, the TAC was reduced by 3% with respect to the TAC adopted in 2017.
Article 34 of this Regulation establishes an exhaustive list of cases where delegated powers are requested in order to address frequent changes on the recommendations adopted by the ICCAT. The main factors that could explain the list of situations where delegated powers are requested could be summarise as follows:
a) The fact that a plan is established for 15 years does not mean that Contracting Parties do not try to rebuild the biomass and bring the stock to safe biological limits as soon as possible, with the objective of achieving as soon as possible the biological objectives of the plan. In this context, the experience shows that after a few years, measures adopted, and in particular technical and control measures need to be reinforced, particularly when trends show that the objectives of recovery are not getting closer and that the stock is not rebuilding at the expected pace. Therefore, specific and regular changes may need to be implemented in short term and request a fast track way to be adopted;
b) Experienced achieved with Recovery plans, in ICCAT and elsewhere, shows that the changes on the text are quite frequent and the need to fully enter into force of the rules quite urgent. As a matter of example for the Recovery plan for Bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and on the Mediterranean the text has been changed 6 times (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017) since it was recommended by ICCAT in 2006.