Considerations on COM(2019)619 - Multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean

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dossier COM(2019)619 - Multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
document COM(2019)619 EN
date September 13, 2023
 
table>(1)One of the objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP) as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), is to ensure that the exploitation of marine biological resources provides sustainable economic, environmental and social benefits.
(2)By means of Council Decision 98/392/EC (4), the Union approved the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, which contain principles and rules with regard to the conservation and management of the living resources of the sea. In the framework of its wider international obligations, the Union takes part in efforts made in international waters to conserve fish stocks.

(3)The Union is Party to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (5) (‘the Convention’).

(4)At its 21st special meeting in 2018, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (‘ICCAT’), established by the Convention, adopted Recommendation 18-02 establishing a multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean (‘the Management Plan’).The Management Plan follows the advice of the ICCAT’s Standing Committee on Research and Statistics (‘SCRS’) stating that ICCAT should establish a multiannual management plan for the stock in 2018 since the current status of the stock no longer appears to require the emergency measures introduced under the recovery plan for bluefin tuna, which was established by Recommendation 17-07 amending Recommendation 14-04, but without weakening existing monitoring and control measures.

(5)ICCAT Recommendation 18-02 repeals Recommendation 17-07, which was implemented in Union law by Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6).

(6)At its 26th regular meeting in 2019, ICCAT adopted Recommendation 19-04 amending the multi-annual management plan established by Recommendation 18-02. ICCAT Recommendation 19-04 repeals and replaces Recommendation 18-02. This Regulation should implement Recommendation 19-04 in Union law.

(7)This Regulation should also implement, in full or in part, where relevant ICCAT Recommendations 06-07 on bluefin tuna farming, 18-10 concerning minimum standards for vessel monitoring systems in the ICCAT Convention Area, 96-14 regarding compliance in the bluefin tuna and North Atlantic swordfish fisheries, 13-13 concerning the establishment of an ICCAT record of vessels 20 metres in length overall or greater authorised to operate in the Convention Area and 16-15 on transhipment.

(8)The positions of the Union within regional fisheries management organisations are to be based on the best available scientific advice so as to ensure that fishery resources are managed in accordance with the objectives of the CFP, in particular with the objective of progressively restoring and maintaining populations of fish stocks above biomass levels capable of producing maximum sustainable yield (‘MSY’), and with the objective of providing conditions for economically viable and competitive fishing capture and processing industry and land-based fishingrelated activity. According to the report issued by the SCRS in October 2018, bluefin tuna catches at a fishing mortality rate F0,1 are in line with a fishing mortality rate consistent with achieving MSY (Fmsy). The stock biomass is considered to be at a level ensuring MSY. The biomass value B0,1 fluctuates from being above that level for medium and low recruitment levels, to being below that level for the high level of recruitment.

(9)The Management Plan takes into account the specificities of the different types of gear and fishing techniques. When implementing the Management Plan, the Union and Member States should promote coastal fishing activities and the use of fishing gear and techniques which are selective and have a reduced environmental impact, in particular gear and techniques used in traditional and artisanal fisheries, thereby contributing to a fair standard of living for local economies.

(10)Account should be taken of the specific characteristics and needs of small-scale and artisanal fisheries. In addition to relevant provisions of ICCAT Recommendation 19-04 that remove obstacles to the participation of small-scale coastal vessels in the bluefin tuna fishery, Member States should make further efforts to ensure a fair and transparent distribution of fishing opportunities between small-scale, artisanal and larger fleets, in a manner consistent with their obligations under Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(11)To ensure compliance with the CFP, Union legal acts have been adopted to establish a system of control, inspection and enforcement, which includes the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In particular, Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (7) establishes a Union system for control, inspection and enforcement with a global and integrated approach so as to ensure compliance with all the rules of the CFP. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (8) lays down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (9) establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. Those Regulations already include provisions that cover a number of the measures laid down in ICCAT Recommendation 19-04, such as fishing licences and authorisations, as well as certain rules on vessel monitoring systems. It is therefore not necessary for this Regulation to include provisions covering those measures.

(12)Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 establishes the concept of minimum conservation reference size. In order to ensure consistency, the ICCAT concept of minimum size should be implemented into Union law as the minimum conservation reference size.

(13)According to ICCAT Recommendation 19-04, bluefin tuna that have been caught and are below the minimum conservation reference size have to be discarded. The same applies to catches of bluefin tuna exceeding the by-catch limits established in annual fishing plans. For the purpose of the Union’s compliance with its international obligations under ICCAT, Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/98 (10) provides for derogations from the landing obligation for bluefin tuna in accordance with Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/98 implements certain provisions of Recommendation 19-04 which lay down the obligation to discard bluefin tuna for vessels that exceed their allocated quota or their maximum level of permitted by-catches. The scope of that Delegated Regulation includes vessels engaged in recreational fishing. It is therefore not necessary for this Regulation to cover such discard and release obligations and this Regulation is without prejudice to the corresponding provisions of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/98.

(14)During the 2018 annual meeting, the Contracting Parties to the Convention acknowledged the need to reinforce controls for certain bluefin tuna operations. With that aim, it was agreed during that meeting that Contracting Parties to the Convention responsible for farms should ensure full traceability of caging operations and should undertake random controls based on risk analysis.

(15)Regulation (EU) No 640/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) provides for an electronic catch document for bluefin tuna (‘eBCD’), implementing ICCAT Recommendation 09-11 amending Recommendation 08-12. ICCAT Recommendations 17-09 and 11-20 on the application of the eBCD have recently been repealed by ICCAT Recommendations 18-12 and 18-13. Therefore, Regulation (EU) No 640/2010 has become obsolete and the Commission has adopted a proposal for a new Regulation implementing the most recent ICCAT rules on eBCD. As a consequence this Regulation should not refer to Regulation (EU) No 640/2010 but, in more general terms, to the catch documentation programme recommended by ICCAT.

(16)Taking into account that certain ICCAT recommendations are being amended frequently by ICCAT Contracting Parties and are likely to be amended further in the future, in order to swiftly implement into Union law future ICCAT recommendations amending or supplementing the Management Plan, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the following matters: deadlines for reporting information, time periods for fishing seasons; derogations from the prohibition on the carry-over of unused quotas; minimum conservation reference sizes; percentages and parameters, the information to be submitted to the Commission; tasks for national observers and regional observers, reasons for refusing the authorisation to transfer fish; reasons for seizing the catches and ordering the release of fish. Moreover, each year, the Commission, representing the Union at ICCAT meetings, agrees to a number of purely technical ICCAT recommendations, in particular concerning capacity limitations, logbook requirements, catch report forms, transhipment and ICCAT transfer declarations (ITDs), minimum information for fishing authorisations, minimum number of fishing vessels in relation to the ICCAT scheme of Joint International Inspection; specifications of the inspection and observer scheme, standards for video recordings, release protocols, standards for the treatment of dead fish, caging declarations or standards for vessel monitoring systems, that should be implemented into Union law by means of Annexes I–XV to this Regulation. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should therefore be delegated to the Commission also in respect of amending or supplementing Annexes I–XV of this Regulation in line with the amended or supplemented ICCAT Recommendations. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (12). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(17)ICCAT recommendations governing the bluefin tuna fishery, namely operations related to catching, transfer, transport, caging, farming, harvesting and carry-over, are highly dynamic. There are constant new developments in technologies to control and manage the fishery, such as stereoscopical cameras and alternative methods, that need to be uniformly applied by Member States. Similarly, operational procedures also need to be developed where necessary, to help Member States to comply with ICCAT rules implemented into Union law by this Regulation. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards detailed rules for the carry-over of live bluefin tuna, transfer operations and caging operations. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13).

(18)The delegated acts and implementing acts provided for in this Regulation are without prejudice to the implementation of future ICCAT recommendations into Union law through the ordinary legislative procedure.

(19)As this Regulation will provide a new and comprehensive management plan for bluefin tuna, the provisions concerning bluefin tuna laid down in Regulations (EU) 2017/2107 (14) and (EU) 2019/833 (15) of the European Parliament and of the Council should be deleted. As regards Article 43 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107, the part corresponding to Mediterranean swordfish has been included in Regulation (EU) 2019/1154 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16). Certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 (17) should also be deleted. Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EU) 2017/2107 and (EU) 2019/833 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(20)ICCAT Recommendation 18-02 repealed Recommendation 17-07 since the status of the stock no longer required the emergency measures provided for in the recovery plan for bluefin tuna established by that recommendation. Regulation (EU) 2016/1627, which implemented that recovery plan, should therefore be repealed,