Considerations on COM(2021)424 - Conservation and management measures for the Conservation of the Southern Bluefin Tuna - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2021)424 - Conservation and management measures for the Conservation of the Southern Bluefin Tuna. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2021)424  |
| date | March 15, 2023 |
| (2) | Under Council Decision 98/392/EC (4), the Union approved the United Nations Convention of 10 December 1982 on the Law of the Sea. Under Council Decision 98/414/EC (5), the Union approved the Agreement on the implementation of that convention relating to the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, which contains 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 participates in efforts made in international waters to conserve fish stocks and strives to strengthen global ocean governance and to promote sustainable fisheries management. |
| (3) | The Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (‘the Convention’), which established the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (‘CCSBT’), does not provide for the accession of regional economic integration organisations such as the Union. To promote cooperation in the conservation and management of southern bluefin tuna, the CCSBT has created the Extended Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (‘Extended Commission’), in which the Union can participate as a member. Decisions adopted by the Extended Commission become decisions of the CCSBT at the end of the session of the CCSBT meeting to which they were reported by the Extended Commission, unless the CCSBT decides to the contrary. Members of the Extended Commission have the same obligations as members of the CCSBT, including compliance with the decisions of the CCSBT and the provision of financial contributions to the CCSBT. |
| (4) | Pursuant to Council Decision (EU) 2015/2437 (6), the Union is a member of the Extended Commission. |
| (5) | The Extended Commission adopts annual conservation and management measures that its members, including the Union, have firmly committed to respecting and complying with. |
| (6) | Unlike in other regional fisheries management organisations (‘RFMOs’) in which the Union participates, the Union has no fishing vessels that target southern bluefin tuna and it has reported only accidental by-catch of that species in the past and none since 2012. Nevertheless, it is still appropriate for the Union to comply with the relevant conservation and management measures adopted by the CCSBT relating to the activities and characteristics of the Union fleet and in relation to the trade in southern bluefin tuna. |
| (7) | The area of distribution of southern bluefin tuna overlaps with the convention areas of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, where the Union long-line fleet that targets tropical tunas and tuna-like species has reported limited amounts of by-catch of southern bluefin tuna in the past. |
| (8) | This Regulation implements into Union law the relevant resolutions of the CCSBT adopted by 2020, except for measures which already form part of Union law. This Regulation covers only the CCSBT provisions applicable to the Union, taking into consideration in particular the specificities of the Union fleet, such as no targeted fishery, exclusively accidental by-catch in the past and none since 2012 and no transhipments or landing, and the trade in southern bluefin tuna. In practice, most obligations will only be triggered if the Union fleet accidentally has by-catches of southern bluefin tuna, which has not occurred since 2012, and retains those fish on-board, something that has not been reported to date. |
| (9) | To ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Union legislation has 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 to ensure compliance with all the rules of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. 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 cover a number of the measures laid down in CCSBT resolutions. It is therefore not necessary to cover those measures in this Regulation. |
| (10) | Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the position of the Union in RFMOs and Union activities in international fisheries organisations are to be based on the best available scientific advice to ensure that fishery resources are managed in accordance with the objectives of the CFP, in particular to ensure that exploitation of living marine biological resources is environmentally sustainable in the long-term and restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield, to provide conditions for an economically viable and competitive fishing capture and processing industry and land-based fishing-related activity, to cooperate with RFMOs to strengthen their performance in reinforcing compliance with measures to combat IUU fishing, and to contribute to the availability of sustainable food supplies. |
| (11) | In order to swiftly implement future CCSBT resolutions into Union law, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending this Regulation concerning the targeting of southern bluefin tuna by Union fishing vessels, the information provided for in the Record of Vessels, the time-limits or periods related to the submission of the information in the catch tagging forms, the retention of catch documentation scheme documents, the transmission of transhipment notifications, the transmission of information to the Secretariat established by the CCSBT (‘Secretariat’) concerning the IUU vessel list and investigation reports, the transmission of information concerning points of contact for port inspections, the transmission of by-catch notifications, the submission of annual reports and Annexes I to IV. 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 (10). 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. |
| (12) | The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11) and delivered an opinion on 20 September 2021. Personal data processed in the framework of this Regulation should be treated in accordance with the applicable provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. In order to ensure effective enforcement of this Regulation, the personal data should be stored for a period of 10 years. In the event that the personal data in question are needed for the follow-up on an infringement, an inspection or judicial or administrative procedures, it should be possible to store those data for a period exceeding 10 years, but no longer than 20 years, |