Considerations on COM(2023)114 - Fixing the 2023 fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks, applicable in Union waters, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, as well as fixing for 2023 and 2024 such fishing opportunities for certain deep-sea fish stocks - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2023)114 - Fixing the 2023 fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks, applicable in Union waters, for Union fishing vessels, in ... |
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| document | COM(2023)114  |
| date | March 31, 2023 |
| (2) | Regulation (EU) 2023/194 sets a provisional TAC for anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in ICES subarea 8 for the period from 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023, pending the availability of scientific advice for that stock for 2023. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published scientific advice for that stock for 2023 on 16 December 2022. The definitive TAC for that stock for 2023 should be set in line with that advice. |
| (3) | Between 9 and 13 March 2023, bilateral consultations between the Union and the United Kingdom on the level of the TAC for sandeel and associated by-catches (Ammodytes spp.) in United Kingdom and Union waters of ICES subarea 4, United Kingdom waters of ICES division 2a and Union waters of division 3a were conducted. Those consultations were conducted pursuant to Article 498(2), (4) and (6) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (2) (TCA) and on the basis of the Union position endorsed by the Council on 2 March 2023. The outcome of those consultations was documented in a Written Record. The relevant TAC should therefore be set at the level agreed with the United Kingdom. |
| (4) | The Union and Norway held bilateral consultations on: (i) shared and jointly managed stocks in the Skagerrak, including Northern prawn (Pandalus borealis) and whiting (Merlangius merlangus) in ICES division 3a, with the aim of agreeing on the management of those stocks including the fishing opportunities; (ii) access to waters; and (iii) exchanges of fishing opportunities. Consultations on the management of the stocks in the Skagerrak were conducted between 9 November and 9 December 2022, on the basis of the Union position agreed by the Council. Between 9 November 2022 and 16 March 2023, consultations on access to waters and on exchanges of fishing opportunities were conducted, also on the basis of the Union position agreed by the Council. The outcome of those consultations was documented in two Agreed Records, signed by the Heads of Delegation of the Union and Norway on 17 March 2023. The relevant fishing opportunities should be fixed at the level set out in those Agreed Records, and the other provisions of the Agreed Records should be implemented in Union law. The relevant fishing opportunities set by Regulation (EU) 2023/194 and the fishing opportunities for capelin (Mallotus villosus) in Greenland waters of ICES subareas 5 and 14 set by Council Regulation (EU) 2022/109 (3) should be amended accordingly. |
| (5) | At its 11th annual meeting in 2023, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) adopted catch limits for jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi), maintained exploratory fisheries for toothfishes (Dissostichus spp.) and removed the fishing effort limit for pelagic fisheries. Those measures should be implemented in Union law. |
| (6) | At its 2022 annual meeting, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) maintained the catch limits for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the IOTC Area of Competence under the rebuilding plan for that stock. Regulation (EU) 2023/194 sets the Union quota for that stock for 2023 in line with that measure adopted by the IOTC. Following revision of the Union base annual catch limit under the rebuilding plan for yellowfin tuna in the IOTC Area of Competence, the IOTC revised the Union quota for that stock for 2023 in line with the rebuilding plan. That revised Union quota should be implemented in Union law. |
| (7) | Under several International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) recommendations, the Union may, upon request, carry over a percentage of its unused quota of stocks in the ICCAT Convention area from the penultimate or the preceding year to a given year, according to rules for each stock as laid down by ICCAT. Those recommendations should be implemented in Union law on the basis of a Commission proposal as soon as possible, so that the Member States can use the Union quotas for ICCAT stocks in their totality as provided by ICCAT for 2024. Pending the implementation of those recommendations in Union law, Regulation (EU) 2023/194 sets quotas for individual Member States for certain stocks on the basis of a total Union quota for 2023 as agreed by ICCAT before any adjustments due to overfishing or underfishing by Member States. |
| (8) | The Union quotas for stocks in the ICCAT Convention area for 2023 were adjusted during the ICCAT annual meeting in November 2022 in accordance with several ICCAT recommendations under which the Union is allowed, upon request, to carry over a set percentage of its unused quota of fishing opportunities from 2021 to 2023. The quotas for individual Member States for those stocks for 2023 should take into account the carry-overs of unused Union quotas allowed by ICCAT before the start of the fishing seasons for those stocks. Therefore, the quotas for northern albacore (Thunnus alalunga) (ALB/AN05N), for southern albacore (ALB/AS05N), for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) in the Atlantic Ocean (BET/ATLANT), as well as for swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the Atlantic Ocean, north of 5° N (SWO/AN05N), and for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, south of 5° N (SWO/AS05N), should be amended to reflect such adjustments, taking into account the principle of relative stability. Furthermore, certain measures functionally linked to the fishing opportunities should be maintained in order to respect the Union’s international commitments. |
| (9) | Fishing effort limits for Union vessels fishing for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the ICCAT Convention area and maximum input and capacity for Union farms of bluefin tuna in that area are based on information provided in the annual fishing plans, the annual fishing capacity management plans and the annual farming management plans for bluefin tuna of Member States. Member States are to transmit those plans to the Commission by 31 January each year, pursuant to Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). The fishing effort limits and maximum farming input and capacity are then reported by the Commission to the ICCAT Secretariat, through the Union fishing and capacity management plan, for discussion and approval by ICCAT pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1627. The Union fishing effort limits and Union maximum framing input and capacity for 2023 should be set in line with the Union plan approved by ICCAT on 8 March 2023. |
| (10) | Regulation (EU) 2023/194 should therefore be amended accordingly. |
| (11) | The fishing opportunities provided for in Regulation (EU) 2023/194 apply from 1 January 2023. The provisions introduced by this Regulation concerning fishing opportunities should therefore also apply from 1 January 2023, except for the fishing opportunities for capelin in Greenland waters of ICES subareas 5 and 14, which should apply from 15 October 2022 to 15 April 2023. Such retroactive application does not affect the principles of legal certainty or protection of legitimate expectations, as the fishing opportunities concerned are increased. Given the urgency of avoiding any interruption of fishing activities, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, |