472 as regards the targets for fixing fishing opportunities - Main contents

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dossier	COM(2023)771 - Amendment of Regulations (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973 and (EU) 2019/472 as regards the targets for fixing fishing ...
document	COM(2023)771
date	December 6, 2023

(1)One of the objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council 9 , is to ensure that exploitation of marine biological resources restores and maintains populations of harvested species above levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). According to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the MSY exploitation rate had to be achieved by 2015 where possible and, on a progressive, incremental basis at the latest by 2020 for all stocks.

(2)To achieve the objectives of the CFP, Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 10 , (EU) 2018/973 11 and (EU) 2019/472 12 of the European Parliament and of the Council established multiannual plans for the long-term management of certain stocks in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the Western Waters, for fisheries exploiting those stocks and, where those stocks extend beyond the Western Waters, in their adjacent waters (‘the MAPs’).

(3)In accordance with Article 10(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the MAPs set quantifiable targets in the form of target fishing mortality rates. These rates provide for flexibility by establishing a range of values (FMSY ranges with upper and lower limits) consistent with reaching and maintaining MSY for the target stocks.

(4)Fishing opportunities are set within those FMSY ranges. Those ranges are based on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (‘ICES’) or a similar independent scientific body recognised at Union or international level, and determined in such a way that all levels of fishing mortality within the range result in MSY in the long term without significantly affecting the reproduction process for the stock in question.

(5)In accordance with Articles 2(2) of Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 and (EU) 2019/472, and Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/973, the FMSY range is calculated to deliver no more than a 5 % reduction in long-term yield compared to the MSY and it is capped so that the probability of the stock falling below Blim is no more than 5%.

(6)Article 4(6) of Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 and (EU) 2018/973, as well as Article 4(7) of Regulation (EU) 2019/472, further provide that ‘fishing opportunities shall in any event be fixed in such a way as to ensure that there is less than a 5 % probability of the spawning stock biomass falling below Blim’ (‘the 5% rule’).

(7)Under certain circumstances relating to the status of a given fish stock and the short-term forecast for its biomass development, the application of the 5% rule may result in a situation that would be inconsistent with the other rules of the MAPs governing the fixing of fishing opportunities and have potentially severe socio-economic implications.

(8)When scientific advice indicates that for a given year the spawning biomass of the targeted stock or, in the case of Norway lobster stocks, the abundance of specific stocks, are below MSY Btrigger, the safeguard rules set out in Regulations (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973 and (EU) 2019/472 provide that all appropriate remedial measures shall be adopted to ensure rapid return of the stock concerned to levels above those capable of producing MSY. In particular, fishing opportunities shall be set at levels consistent with a fishing mortality that is reduced below the upper range of FMSY, taking into account the decrease in biomass.

(9)The safeguard rules in the MAPs also provide that further remedial measures are to be adopted where the spawning stock biomass of the targeted stock or, in the case of Norway lobster stocks, the abundance of specific stocks, is below Blim, in order to ensure rapid return of the stock concerned to levels above those capable of producing MSY. In this context, Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1139, as well as Article 7(2) of Regulations (EU) 2018/972 and (EU) 2019/472), refer specifically not only to the suspension of the targeted fishery, but also to other possible measures such as the adequate reduction of fishing opportunities, the adoption of emergency measures or of technical measures.

(10)The MAPs further provide that the choice of measures in both cases is to be made in accordance with the nature, seriousness, duration and repetition of the situation. The MAPs therefore require the suspension of the targeted fishery only if, according to the criteria in the MAPs, it is considered to be the appropriate remedial measure required to ensure the rapid return of the stock to levels above those capable of producing MSY.

(11)Therefore, on the one hand, the 5% rule may mean that fishing opportunities cannot be set and the targeted fishery must be suspended. On the other hand, the safeguard provisions in the MAPs require the adoption of remedial measures to bring the stock above Btrigger, based on a case-by-case assessment on the appropriateness for choosing such measure, in accordance with the criteria set out in the MAPs. Moreover, the MAPs refer to the possibility, and not the obligation, to suspend the targeted fishery, provided that such a measure is considered appropriate in accordance with the criteria set out in the MAPs.

(12)It is therefore necessary to address this inconsistency in the legal framework by deleting the provisions in Regulations (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973 and (EU) 2019/472 providing that fishing opportunities shall in any event be fixed in such a way as to ensure that the probability of the stock falling below Blim is no more than 5%.

(13)Regulations (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973 and (EU) 2019/472 should therefore be amended accordingly.