Regulation 2022/515 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2022/109 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and for Union fishing vessels in certain non-Union waters - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 104/1

Council Regulation (EU) 2022/109 (1) fixes for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and for Union fishing vessels in certain non-Union waters.

On 21 December 2021, the Union agreed with the United Kingdom on the setting of a large number of total allowable catches (TACs) for 2022 for stocks listed in Annex 35 to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the Union and United Kingdom (TCA) (2). The outcome of the consultations was documented in the Written Record, which was endorsed by the Council on 21 December 2021 and signed on the same day by the Head of Delegation of the United Kingdom and by the Commission representative on behalf of the Union, in accordance with Article 498(6) of the TCA and Council Decision (EU) 2021/1875 (3).

The Written Record is a result of consultations conducted by the Union with the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 498(2), Article 498(4), points (a) to (d), and Article 498(6) of the TCA, with the objectives and principles set out in Articles 2, 3, 28 and 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), Articles 4 and 5 of Regulations (EU) 2019/472 (5) and 2018/973 (6) of the European Parliament and of the Council, and Decision (EU) 2021/1875. The Union position was based during the consultations on the best available scientific advice as provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in accordance with Article 494(3), point (c), of the TCA.

It is therefore necessary to replace the provisional TACs that were established in Regulation (EU) 2022/109 in accordance with the fishing opportunities agreed in the Written Record and to implement other measures functionally linked to the fishing opportunities also agreed in the Written Record.

Such fishing opportunities for 2022 will allow for long-term environmentally sustainable fishing activities, managed with the aim of achieving economic, social and employment benefits and contributing to the availability of food supplies, including the promotion of a level playing field for Union operators where stocks are shared with the United Kingdom.

There are certain stocks for which ICES, while assessing them against maximum sustainable yield (MSY), has issued scientific advice for no catches. If TACs for those stocks were established at the level indicated in such scientific advice, the obligation to land all catches both in the Union and United Kingdom waters, including by-catches from those stocks, in mixed fisheries, would lead to the phenomenon of ‘choke species’. In order to balance the need for the continuation of those mixed fisheries in view of the potentially severe socioeconomic implications of complete interruption of those fisheries with the need to achieve a good biological status for those stocks, and taking into account the difficulty of fishing all stocks in a mixed fishery at MSY at the same time, the Union and the United Kingdom agreed that it is appropriate to establish specific TACs for by-catches for those stocks. Those TACs should be set at a level which decreases mortality for those stocks and provides incentives for improvements in selectivity and avoidance....