Regulation 2023/2833 - Catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) - Main contents

Official Journal

of the European Union

EN

Series L

2023/2833

20.12.2023

One of the objectives of the common fisheries policy, 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.

The Union is a Contracting Party to the United Nations Convention of 10 December 1982 on the Law of the Sea, approved by Council Decision 98/392/EC (4), to the Agreement on the implementation of the provisions of that Convention relating to the conservation and management of straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, ratified by Council Decision 98/414/EC (5), and to the Agreement to promote compliance with international conservation and management measures by fishing vessels on the high seas, accepted by Council Decision 96/428/EC (6). In the framework of those international obligations, the Union participates in efforts made to ensure sustainable management of highly migratory fish stocks.

The Union is a Contracting Party to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (the ‘Convention’) pursuant to Council Decision 86/238/EEC (7). The Convention provides for a framework for regional cooperation on the conservation and management of tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas through an International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (‘ICCAT’), and for the adoption of recommendations applicable in the Convention area which become binding on the Contracting Parties to the Convention, cooperating non-contracting Parties, entities and fishing entities (‘CPCs’).

Regulation (EU) No 640/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) implemented into Union law ICCAT Recommendation 09-11 amending Recommendation 08-12 introducing a catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna.

As part of the measures to regulate stocks of bluefin tuna, to improve the quality and reliability of statistical data and in order to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal fishing, ICCAT adopted Recommendations 18-13 and 21-19 on an ICCAT bluefin documentation programme, introducing the implementation of the bluefin tuna catch documentation scheme, Recommendations 10-11 on an electronic bluefin tuna catch document programme (eBCD) and 22-16 on the application of the eBCD system, developing and strengthening the implementation of the bluefin tuna catch documentation scheme by introducing a mandatory eBCD system, and Recommendation 22-08 establishing a multi-annual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. CPCs and Member States commenced the partial implementation of the eBCD system in June 2016. It is fully implemented since January 2017 and is being used by Member States.

The Convention establishes English, French and Spanish as the official languages of ICCAT. In order to permit operators to carry out their activities falling within the scope of this Regulation effectively and to avoid obstacles...