Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2024)386 - - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2024)386 - . |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2024)386 |
| date | 26-08-2024 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
In line with Regulation No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the common fisheries policy (the CFP Basic Regulation)1, living marine biological resources must be exploited in a way that restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (‘MSY’). An important tool for ensuring this is the annual fixing of fishing opportunities in the form of total allowable catches (‘TACs’) and quotas.
Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the multiannual plan for the Baltic Sea (the ‘MAP’)2 further specifies target ranges for fishing mortality. These ranges are used in this proposal to achieve the objectives of the common fisheries policy (the CFP) and in particular to restore and maintain MSY.
This proposal aims to fix fishing opportunities for 2025 for the most commercially significant fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. It also aims to regulate marine recreational fisheries to the extent required to conserve the fish stocks covered by this Regulation. To simplify and clarify the annual TAC and quota decisions, fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea have been fixed by a separate regulation since 2006.
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
The proposal sets TACs and quotas at levels consistent with the objectives of the CFP Basic Regulation and the MAP.
• Consistency with other Union policies
The proposal is consistent with other Union policies, in particular with the policies in the field of the environment.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The legal basis for the proposal is Article 43(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The proposal falls under the Union’s exclusive competence referred to in Article 3(1)(d) TFEU. Therefore, the subsidiarity principle does not apply.
• Proportionality
The proposal allocates fishing opportunities to Member States according to the objectives of the CFP Basic Regulation and the MAP. Under Article 16(6), Article 16(7) and Article 17 of the CFP Basic Regulation, Member States are to decide how the fishing opportunities allocated to them are allocated to fishing vessels that fly their flag according to certain criteria set out in those Articles. Member States can therefore exercise the necessary margin of discretion while distributing the allocated TACs, in line with their preferred social/economic model for using the fishing opportunities allocated to them by the proposal.
• Choice of instrument
A regulation is considered the most appropriate instrument because it makes it possible to set requirements that apply directly to Member States and relevant businesses. This will help ensure that the requirements are implemented in a timely and harmonised way, thus leading to greater legal certainty.
3. RESULTS OF EX POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Stakeholder consultations
The Commission consulted stakeholders (particularly through the Baltic Sea Advisory Council) on the basis of its Communication on ‘Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2025’ (COM(2024) 235 final). The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) provided the scientific basis for the proposal. The preliminary views expressed by the consulted stakeholders on all fish stocks concerned were taken into account as much as possible but without contradicting current policies or causing any deterioration in the state of vulnerable resources.
Scientific advice on catch limitations and on the status of stocks was also discussed with Member States at the BALTFISH regional forum in June 2024.
• Collection and use of expertise
The Commission consulted ICES whose scientific advice is based on an advice framework developed by its expert groups and decision-making bodies and issued in line with its framework partnership agreement with the Commission.
The Union seeks scientific advice on the state of important fish stocks from ICES each year. The advice received covers all Baltic stocks and TACs are proposed for the commercially most significant stocks.1
• Impact assessment
The proposal is part of a long-term approach in which fishing is adjusted to – and maintained at – sustainable long-term levels. Over time, this approach is expected to result in: (i) stable fishing pressure; (ii) higher quotas; and therefore (iii) improved incomes for fishers and their families. Increased landings are expected to benefit: the fishing industry, consumers, the processing and retail industry, and the rest of the industry linked to commercial and recreational fishing. In this context, the link between sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine environment in the Baltic Sea needs to be stressed, in line with the biodiversity strategy and other related initiatives, notably the EU action plan for marine ecosystems and fisheries.2
This proposal seeks to avoid short-term approaches in favour of long-term sustainability. It therefore takes account of initiatives by stakeholders and advisory councils if they have been positively reviewed by ICES and/or the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). The Commission’s CFP reform proposal was based on an impact assessment (SEC(2011) 891) that considered that, although achieving the MSY objective was a necessary condition for environmental, economic and social sustainability, those three objectives cannot be achieved in isolation.
Until 2019, decisions on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities succeeded in bringing fishing mortality for all stocks with MSY advice into line with the MSY ranges at the moment of TAC setting, except for western Baltic herring. These decisions also seemed to succeed in rebuilding stocks and rebalancing fishing capacity and fishing opportunities. However, in 2019, it became apparent that eastern Baltic cod had been under severe pressure. ICES estimates have since suggested that this stock will most probably remain below the Blim conservation reference point in the years to come. In 2021, it became apparent that the western Baltic cod stock had also been below the Blim conservation reference point for many years, and ICES underlined that several salmon populations were also not in a good condition. Until 2020, ICES estimated that the biomass of central Baltic herring was below the Btrigger reference point. Since 2023 ICES has estimated that the biomass has actually been around Blim since the mid-1990s and below Blim for several years. As for 2024, the biomass is estimated to have increased to just above Blim. ICES postponed to mid-September 2024 its advice for Bothnian herring but, according to ICES’s 2023 advice, the biomass has been below the Btrigger limit since 2021. The biomass of sprat has substantially decreased but is still above the Btrigger limit. Further progress is therefore still needed to reach and maintain MSY for all Baltic Sea stocks.
ICES published its scientific advice for the various Baltic stocks on 31 May 2024, except for Bothnian herring which is postponed. In its advice, ICES estimates that: (i) the biomass of western Baltic herring and of eastern and western Baltic cod is still below Blim; (ii) the biomass of central Baltic herring is above Blim but remains below Btrigger. The advice for eastern Baltic cod, western Baltic cod and salmon in the Gulf of Finland is based on the precautionary approach. The remaining six stocks have received the following MSY advice:
- sprat, herring in the Gulf of Riga and plaice are estimated to be above Btrigger;
- central Baltic herring is estimated to be below Btrigger;
- western Baltic herring is estimated to be below Blim;
- the various salmon populations in the main basin remain are estimated to be in highly varied conditions (between below Rlim and above RMSY).
It is therefore proposed to maintain the approach taken for salmon in the main basin while decreasing the TAC by -36% compared with 2024. The proposal would decrease the fishing opportunities for salmon in the Gulf of Finland by -20% and for sprat by -42% compared with 2024. The proposal would increase the fishing opportunities for herring in the Gulf of Riga by +20% and for central herring by +108% compared with 2024. The proposal would keep unchanged the fishing opportunities for plaice. The by-catch allocations for eastern and western cod and for western herring would decrease by -68%, -73% and -50% respectively.
The proposal cannot include the fishing opportunities for Bothnian herring, so the impact of the proposal on the total volume of fishing opportunities for 2025 cannot be estimated at this stage.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
The proposal remains flexible in the application of quota-exchange mechanisms already laid down by regulations on fishing opportunities in the Baltic Sea in previous years. There are no new rules or new administrative procedures proposed for Union or national public authorities that could increase administrative burden.
The proposal concerns an annual regulation that applies to 2025. It therefore does not include a revision clause.
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The proposal has no implications for the Union budget.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation, and reporting arrangements
Monitoring and compliance will be ensured in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.1
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal
The proposal fixes fishing opportunities for certain stocks or groups of stocks for fishing in the Baltic Sea for 2025.
To set Union quotas for stocks shared with the Russian Federation, the respective quantities corresponding to the Russian Federation’s historic share in these stocks have been deducted from the catches advised by ICES. The TACs and quotas allocated to Member States are set out in the Annex to the proposal.
Regarding eastern Baltic cod, due to limited input data and issues with the assessment model, ICES downgraded the assessment to category 3 precautionary advice.2 For the 6th year in a row, ICES advises zero catches of eastern Baltic cod. ICES is no longer able to determine most of the conservation reference points for eastern Baltic cod but estimates that the stock size is below Blim in 2024 and that it will remain below this level in the short term, even with no fishing at all. Moreover, ICES considers that the recruitment estimates are unreliable but that the trends in biomass and fishing mortality are consistent with past assessments. Given the depleted stock situation, the Council has decided since 2019 to close the targeted fishery and to adopt remedial measures functionally linked to the fishing opportunities (a spawning closure period and a ban of recreational fisheries). These remedial measures have not yet had the time to improve the stock status, so the proposal aims to maintain them in accordance with Article 3(1) of the MAP and Article 16 i of the CFP Basic Regulation, in conjunction with Articles 2(1) and 2(5), points (c) and 5(f), of that Regulation. Regarding the TAC level, ICES published in 2019 two pieces of special advice on unavoidable by-catches of eastern Balitc cod in other fisheries indicating that there are cod by-catches in all types of fisheries, but ICES could not quantify them.3 The by-catch TACs since 2019 have therefore been set following a certain by-catch threshold scenario indicated by ICES. In 2024, ICES confirmed that it was still not in a position to quantify unavoidable by-catches.4 Without a by-catch allocation of eastern Baltic cod all fisheries in the eastern Baltic cod management area would have to be closed. In order to avoid the severe socio-economic consequences resulting from such a total closure and in the absence of additional information, the Commission proposes to set the by-catch TAC for eastern Baltic cod at 191 tonnes, which is the level of the reported landings in the eastern Baltic cod management area in 2023.
Regarding western Baltic cod, in 2024 ICES downgraded its assessment to category 3 precautionary advice and provided very low catch advice for 2024 and 2025.5 The stock biomass has been below Blim for most of the last 15 years. As a result, since 2021, the Council has decided to close the targeted fishery and to adopt remedial measures functionally linked to the fishing opportunities (a spawning closure period and a ban of recreational fisheries). These remedial measures have not yet had time to result in an improved stock status, so the proposal aims to maintain them in accordance with Article 3(1) of the MAP and Article 16 i of the CFP Basic Regulation, in conjunction with Articles 2(1) and 2(5), points (c) and (f), of that Regulation. Regarding the TAC level, ICES has so far not been in a position to quantify the level of western Baltic cod by-catches in other fisheries, but there are western Baltic cod by-catches in all other fisheries.6 Without a by-catch allocation of western Baltic cod all fisheries in the western Baltic cod management area would have to be closed. In order to avoid the severe socio-economic consequences resulting from such a total closure and in the absence of additional information, the Commission proposes to set the by-catch TAC for western Baltic cod at 93 tonnes, which is the level of the reported landings in the western Baltic cod management area in 2023.
Regarding plaice, the TAC is a combination of: (i) the MSY advice for the stock in subdivisions 21 to 23; and (ii) the MSY advice for the stock in subdivisions 24 to 32, which ICES upgraded to ICES data category 2 MSY advice in 2022.7 According to the ICES advice for 2025, both stocks have experienced extraordinary recruitment in several years since 2019. Moreover, since 2020-2021, total landings have substantially decreased and discards have increased. Furthermore, multispecies interactions should be taken into account, given that cod is an unavoidable by-catch in plaice fisheries, and that by-catch levels can be significant, although more selective fishing gears are expected to become mandatory in 2025 via a Commission delegated regulation. In the absence of additional information from ICES and in order to strike a balance between allowing these targeted plaice fisheries to continue operating while minimising the associated by-catches of Baltic cod, the Commission proposes to set the TAC in accordance with Article 4 i of the MAP and keep its level unchanged.
Regarding western Baltic hearing, in its advice for 2025 ICES substantially downsized the stock size and estimates that, while it has increased since 2023, it is only 60% of Blim in 2024.8 ICES also estimates that the biomass will remain below Blim at least until 2026, even with no fishing at all. Recruitment has been historically low for about 10 years. As none of the catch scenarios would bring the biomass of western Baltic herring above Blim in 2026, ICES reiteratess, for the 7th consecutive year, its advice to allow zero catches. Since 2021, the Council has decided to close the targeted fishery except for purely scientific fisheries and small-scale coastal fisheries, and to set a TAC for unavoidable by-catches to avoid choking other fisheries. These remedial measures have not yet had time to result in an improved stock status. The Commission therefore proposes, in accordance with Article 4(6) and 5(2) of the MAP, to keep the targeted fishery closed and to discontinue the exemption for small-scale coastal fisheries. Regarding the TAC level, ICES has so far not been in a position to quantify the level of western Baltic herring by-catches in other fisheries, but there are western Baltic herring by-catches in the targeted sprat fisheries.9 In order to avoid the socio-economic consequences resulting from the closure of the targeted sprat fisheries in the western Baltic herring management area and in the absence of additional information, the Commission proposes to set the by-catch TAC for western Baltic herring at 394 tonnes.
ICES has postponed its assessment of herring in the Gulf of Bothnia, until mid-September 2024. The fishing opportunities for that stock in this proposal are therefore marked ‘pm’ (pro memoria). Once the most recent available scientific advice becomes available, this proposal will be updated by means of a Commission services’ non-paper.
Regarding central Baltic herring, the status of the biomass of the stockhas been uncertain since 2020. ICES therefore undertook a benchmarking study in 2023. ICES estimates that the biomass has been below Blim for most of the past 30 years, including in 2023, but increased above Blim in 2024.10 The short-term forecast for the stock development results in a catch advice that would almost triple the TAC compared with 2024. The forecast is, however, based on optimistic recruitment estimates and ICES explicitly states that they are uncertain. Moreover, even under these optimistic recruitment estimates and with no fishing at all, the probability that the stock will remain below Btrigger in 2026 is still 55%. Therefore, in accordance with Article 5(1) of the MAP, the Commission proposes to set the TAC at the FMSY lowest point.
Regarding herring in the Gulf of Riga,11 the stock is above MSY Btrigger so the Commission proposes to set the TAC in accordance with Article 4(3) of the MAP.
Regarding sprat, according to the ICES advice for 2025, the biomass of the stock is still above Btrigger but has substantially decreased mostly due to continued historically low recruitment since 2021.12 ICES also stresses that the stock development forecast is based on optimistic recruitment estimates with the result that the stock biomass might fall below Btrigger if actual recruitment was lower. Moreover, the catch scenarios of the FMSY range do not ensure that the probability for the stock to fall below Blim is less than 5%. The Commission therefore proposes to set the TAC below the FMSY lowest point, in accordance with Article 4(6) of the MAP.
Regarding salmon river stocks, since at least the 1990s, ICES has stated that the status of those stocks in the Baltic Sea area is heterogeneous, with some salmon river stocks being in a good condition but others not. Following a benchmarking study, ICES has stated since its advice for 2022 that all commercial and recreational salmon catches should stop in the main basin, because they are inherently mixed fisheries catching salmon from all river stocks. However, ICES at the same time has also considered that continuing the existing targeted fishery in some northern coastal areas during the salmon summer migration would still be possible. Therefore, since 2021, the Council has decided to close the targeted salmon fishery in the main basin and to set a by-catch TAC for unavoidable by-catches, with an exemption for scientific fisheries, while keeping the targeted salmon fishery open during the summer period in the relevant northern coastal areas. Since 2021, the Council has also adopted further remedial measures functionally linked to the fishing opportunities (prohibition to use longlines and to fish for sea trout outside coastal areas;daily bag limit of one fin-clipped salmon per angler in most areas). The ICES advice for 2025 follows the same approach as in previous years.13 ICES considers that targeted salmon fishing under certain conditions can again take place in the Åland Sea and in the Bothnian Sea (ICES subdivisions 29N and 30) but that the level of recommended maximum catches should be decreased. ICES also states that the survival rate of wild post-smolts declined to a historic low in 2021 (which might even be an overestimate) and that the estimate for 2022 is uncertain. Furthermore, the spawning run has substantially decreased since 2021, and notably was in 2023 the lowest by far in the time series (only about a third of the 10-year average) for the most productive salmon river. Finally, ICES estimates that the post-release mortality of wild salmon in recreational trolling fisheries for adipose fin-clipped (i.e. reared) salmon is 25% resulting in approximately 2 000 dead wild salmon. The Commission therefore proposes, in accordance with Article 16 i of the CFP Basic Regulation, in conjunction with Articles 2(1) and 2(5), points (c) and (f), of that Regulation, to: (i) allow targeted commercial coastal summer salmon fisheries in ICES subdivisions 29N to 31; (ii) adjust the TAC to the level advised by ICES; (iii) maintain the current remedial measures; (iv) maintain the limited inter-area flexibility to ensure the full use of coastal fishing opportunities in ICES subdivision 32; and (v) discontinue the possibility of recreational salmon fisheries except during the summer in the coastal areas in ICES subdivisions 29N to 31.
Regarding salmon in the Gulf of Finland, ICES issued precautionary advice for 2025.14 The Commission therefore proposes a TAC in accordance with Article 16 i of the CFP Basic Regulation. Based on the past quota consumption, the Commission proposes to maintain the limited inter-area flexibility between the two salmon TACs.
Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 lays down further conditions for year-to-year management of TACs including, under Articles 3 and 4, flexibility provisions for stocks subject to precautionary and analytical TACs, respectively. Article 2 stipulates that, when fixing the TACs, the Council must decide to which stocks Articles 3 and 4 should not apply, in particular based on the biological status of the stocks. The Commission proposes to exclude year-to-year flexibility pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 for analytical stocks with a biomass below Blim and for precautionary stocks for which ICES recommends either zero catches or suspending the targeted fishery. Article 15(9) of the CFP Basic Regulation also lays down a year-to-year flexibility mechanism for all stocks that are subject to the landing obligation. In order to avoid excessive flexibility that would undermine the principle of rational and responsible exploitation of living marine biological resources and make it difficult to achieve the CFP objectives, it should be clarified that Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 only apply if Member States do not use the year-to-year flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of the CFP Basic Regulation. Furthermore, year-to-year flexibility for quotas under Article 15(9) of the Basic Regulation should also be excluded if this would undermine the achievement of the CFP objectives, in particular for: (i) analytical stocks with a biomass below Blim and for which only by-catch or scientific fisheries will be permitted; and (ii) for precautionary stocks for which only such fisheries will be permitted.
The Commission also proposes to amend Council Regulation (EU) 2024/257 to set a TAC for Norway pout, for which the fishing year starts on 1 November 2024. The TAC level is marked as ‘pm’ (pro memoria), pending the publication of the ICES advice expected on 11 October 2024 and the outcome of the consultations with the United Kingdom.