Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)889 - Amendment and repeal of several Council Regulations as regards the landing obligation - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2013)889 - Amendment and repeal of several Council Regulations as regards the landing obligation. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2013)889  |
| date | 17-12-2013 |
One of the central objectives of the reform of the current Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)[1] is the progressive elimination of discards in all European Union (EU) fisheries through the introduction of a landing obligation. This is designed to make better use of the available resources, and responds to public expectation to end the practice of throwing marketable fish back into the sea. High levels of discards are identified as an important driver of the lack of environmental sustainability of the CFP in the impact assessment[2] carried out for the proposal for the Basic Regulation for the CFP.
The European Parliament in its plenary vote in February 2013 agreed the gradual introduction of the landing obligation with a starting date of 2014 for pelagic fisheries, highly migratory species and salmon in the Baltic and extending to all fisheries in the Union in the following years. Later in February, the Council also gave a clear indication that they support this approach and agreed a similar timetable for implementation. Subsequently political agreement has been reached by the European Parliament and Council on the Basic Regulation with a new start date for implementation of the landing obligation of 1 January 2015.
In order to make the landing obligation operational certain provisions within the current Regulations on technical measures, management measures and control that run contrary to the landing obligation and oblige fishermen to discard fish must be removed or amended. A declaration signalling this intention was made by the Council at the June Council[3], urging the Commission to act swiftly to make these changes to the existing regulations once the reform is agreed.
It is the intention of the Commission that a new technical measures framework will be developed as part of the reform which, over time, should facilitate the full implementation of the landing obligation as envisaged. It would also incorporate the new, regionalised approach, including the development of multiannual and discard plans. However, this new framework will almost certainly not be in place in time for the first group of fisheries to be covered under the landing obligation. Therefore legislation is required to remove any legal and practical impediments to implementation on a transitional basis while this new framework is being developed.
On the technical measures regulations several provisions contained in the current regulations contradict the landing obligation and oblige fishermen to discard. These are minimum landing sizes (MLS), catch composition rules and bycatch provisions.
Minimum Landing Sizes (MLS) are contained in Regulation (EC) No 850/98 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms i as amended in particular by Regulation (EU) No 227/2013[5], and Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound, amending Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 88/98[6]. MLS set the legal sizes of fish which can be retained on board. Fish below these sizes currently must not be retained on board or landed. Under the landing obligation, for all species under catch limits, MLS will be replaced by minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS). Fish below these MCRS will have to be landed but the sale of catches below MCRS will be limited to uses other than human consumption. A specific situation occurs in the Mediterranean Sea where Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 concerning management measures for the sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea, amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1624/94[7]. This Regulation prohibits that marine organisms which are smaller than the minimum size specified therein are caught, retained on board, transhipped, landed, transferred, stored, sold, displayed or offered for sale. These minimum sizes were put in place in 2007 and were established to promote improvements in the size selection beyond the minimum standards of the gear characteristics for the fisheries concerned. In the Mediterranean where minimum catching sizes apply these will also be replaced by minimum conservation reference sizes for consistency with the same requirement that fish below the MCRS will have to be landed but will their use will be limited to purposes other than human consumption.
Catch composition rules are contained in Regulation (EC) 850/98 and associated regulations (Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 establishing a multiannual plan for the cod stocks in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks[8], Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 specifying conditions under which herring may be landed for industrial purposes other than direct human consumption[9], Regulation (EC) No 254/2002 establishing measures to be applicable in 2002 for the recovery of the stocks of cod in the Irish Sea (ICES division VIIa[10] and Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 establishing specific access requirements and associated conditions applicable to fishing for deep-sea stocks[11]). There are similar catch composition percentages in the Baltic Sea Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005) but not in the Mediterranean.
Catch composition rules set limits which must be met on a daily basis and at the end of a fishing trip. If fishermen are outside the limits they are obliged to discard components of the catch in order to balance the retained catch with the catch composition rules. Under the landing obligation, fishermen will no longer be allowed to discard, so the contradiction between continuing to regulate catch composition and obliging fishermen to land all catches must be addressed. This will be achieved by requiring that all unintended catches of marine organisms subject to the landing obligation over the permitted catch composition percentages must be landed and counted against quotas. The catch composition rules are interlinked with other provisions (e.g. mesh size ranges, conditions for use of certain combinations of mesh sizes) and detailed rules for sorting of catches on board vessels are also based on the catch composition percentages. These rules will also have to be aligned or deleted to remove the obligation to discard.
In the case of Regulation (EC) No 1434/1998 the catch composition rules and associated restrictions on the use of herring contained in this regulation are no longer relevant. The landing obligation will apply to all pelagic and industrial fisheries in EU waters from 1 January 2015 and requires that all herring caught must be landed and counted against quotas and that any herring below the minimum conservation reference size can only be used for purposes other than human consumption. This regulation should be repealed.
Within the technical conservation measures regulations (Regulation (EC) 850/98 and associated regulations (Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 and Regulation (EC) No 254/2002) for Union waters in the Atlantic and some other specified areas, and Regulation (EC) No 2187/200510 for the Union waters of the Baltic Sea) there are also multiple bycatch provisions. These are similar to catch composition rules but are area or gear specific. Typically these are derogations to allow bycatch of certain species of 5-10% in restricted areas with certain gear types in specific fisheries. Catches in excess of these bycatch limits currently have to be discarded. As with catch composition rules this creates a contradiction with the landing obligation as they currently require fishermen to discard fish caught in excess of the bycatch provisions whereas under the landing obligation such fish must be landed. Therefore, they need to be dealt with in a similar way as the catch composition rules to remove the obligation to discard.
One further amendment is proposed to Regulation (EC) No 850/98 which is not linked to the landing obligation but is required to ensure legal certainty. Several Member States have indicated that the current provisions pertaining to an area closure in ICES division VIb to protect juvenile haddock have led to misinterpretation creating concerns for the conservation of haddock in this area. Therefore it is proposed to amend this article in Regulation (EC) 850/98 by reverting to the original wording included under Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 and removing any possibility of misinterpretation.
Council Regulation (EC) 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006[12] also needs to be aligned with the landing obligation. The modifications required concern changes to fishing authorisations; recording of data on all catches particularly when below minimum conservation reference sizes; a higher margin of tolerance for catch estimates below 50 kg in logbooks and transhipment declarations; establishment of rules for remote electronic monitoring (REM) for the recording of data for monitoring the landing obligation at sea; separate stowage of catches and control of marketing of catches below minimum conservation reference sizes; establishing the conditions for the use of control observers for monitoring purposes; the definition of the violation of the landing obligation as a serious infringement. The introduction of the landing obligation in combination with certain new inter-annual quota flexibilities, makes adjustment of existing rules on the deduction of quotas and effort necessary. All of these changes follow from rules in the CFP reform.
As the first group of fisheries will be subject to the landing obligation in 2015, the relevant provisions of the regulations on technical measures, management measures and on control measures should be amended by this Regulation to ensure timely removal of legal obstacles to applying the landing obligation.
Contents
No specific Impact Assessment has been carried out as the impacts of introducing a landing obligation have already been assessed under the impact assessment supporting the reform of the CFP. As part of that impact assessment[13], the impacts of discard reducing policies including a discard ban were quantified. That assessment had two phases. The first phase comprised a series of desk studies on the extent of discarding practices in the EU and described the anti-discard policies in a number of fisheries (in Iceland, Norway, Scotland and Denmark). Moreover, the level of discarding in EU fisheries was classified and finally specific studies of discarding in Mediterranean fisheries were undertaken. The second analytical phase assessed the impacts of a range of anti-discard policy options in EU fisheries including the effects of changes in fishing gear selectivity and the introduction of new technical measures such as real-time closures. This analysis showed that the introduction of an anti-discard policy based on more effective technical measures and the removal of ineffective technical measures that induce discarding would result in short-term economic losses but medium to long-term additional gains, primarily in environmental and economic terms.
A further impact assessment would not add to the information already available from the previous assessment carried out. The changes that are needed to the existing regulations are essential to the proper functioning of the new CFP.
The main action is to facilitate the implementation of the landing obligation envisaged under the Common Fisheries Policy reform by removing all existing provisions from EU technical measures and control regulations that run contrary to the landing obligation.
Article 43(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The proposal falls under exclusive competence of the European Union.
This proposal is amending measures which already exist; therefore no concern on the proportionality principle arises.
Proposed instrument: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Other means would not be adequate for the following reason: Regulations must be amended by a Regulation.
This measure does not involve any additional Union expenditure