Annexes to COM(2009)107 - Proposal for a Council Decision for the establishment of the EC position in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)

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dossier COM(2009)107 - Proposal for a Council Decision for the establishment of the EC position in the General Fisheries Commission for the ...
document COM(2009)107 EN
date March  5, 2009
ANNEX

The Community position in the GFCM

1. PRINCIPLES

In the framework of GFCM, the European Community shall:

a) act in accordance with the objectives pursued by the Community within the framework of the Common Fisheries Policy, notably through the precautionary approach to provide for the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources in the convention area of the GFCM, to promote the gradual implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management and to minimise the impact of fishing activities on marine ecosystem, as well as through the promotion of economically viable and competitive Community fisheries, providing a fair standard of living for those who depend on fishing activities and taking account of the interests of consumers;

b) ensure that GFCM recommendations are in accordance with the objectives of the GFCM Convention;

c) ensure that GFCM recommendations are consistent with international law, and in particular with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Agreement relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks and the Agreement to promote compliance with international conservation and management measures by fishing vessels on the high seas;

d) promote consistency with the measures adopted by other Regional Fisheries Management Organisations;

e) seek synergy with the policy that the Community is pursuing as part of its bilateral fishery relations with third countries, and coherence with its external relations policy;

f) ensure that the Community's international commitments are respected.

2. ORIENTATIONS

The European Commission shall, where appropriate, endeavour to support the adoption of the following actions by GFCM:

a) conservation and management measures for fisheries resources based on best scientific advice available. Where necessary, specific measures for stocks which suffer from overfishing shall be considered in order to avoid any increase of fishing activities;

b) long-term management plans for the recovery or the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources to ensure progressive stabilisation of fishing activities within sustainable limits, without prejudice to emergency measures that may be required to tackle unexpected situations;

c) measures to ensure that fishing effort is commensurate with fishing opportunities. For fisheries exploiting overfished stocks, fleet overcapacity needs to be addressed, while seeking efforts from third countries equivalent to those of the Community;

d) technical measures such as minimum size, mesh and hook sizes, dimension and rigging of fishing gear, spatio-temporal closures and marine protected areas, on the basis of best available scientific advice;

e) monitoring, control and surveillance measures, with a view to ensuring proper control of the fishing activities, of the fleet capacity and of the implementation of port State measures, to strengthen compliance with GFCM rules and alignment with the Community legislation on IUU activities;

f) effective trade measures designed to ensure conservation of GFCM stocks;

g) institutional modernisation of GFCM.