THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
Article 43(3) of the Treaty provides that the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, is to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.
Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1) requires conservation measures to be adopted which take into account available scientific, technical and economic advice, including, where relevant, reports drawn up by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF).
It is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities by fishery or group of fisheries in the Black Sea including, as appropriate, certain conditions functionally linked thereto. In accordance with Article 16(1) and (4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, fishing opportunities are to be distributed among Member States in such a way as to ensure the relative stability of the fishing activities of each Member State for each fish stock or fishery, and in accordance with the objectives of the common fisheries policy established in Article 2(2) of that Regulation.
At its 41st Annual Meeting in 2017, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) adopted Recommendation GFCM/40/2017/4 on a multiannual management plan for turbot fisheries in geographical sub-area 29 (Black Sea). The recommendation establishes a total allowable catch (TAC) for turbot for 2 years (2018-2019) with a temporary allocation of quotas. That measure should be implemented into the law of the Union.
The fishing opportunities should be established on the basis of the available scientific advice, taking into account biological and socioeconomic aspects whilst ensuring fair treatment between fishing sectors, as well as in the light of the opinions expressed during the consultation of stakeholders.
In accordance with the available scientific advice of STECF, it is necessary to maintain the current level of fishing mortality to ensure the sustainaibility of sprat stocks in the Black Sea.
For sprat fisheries, the landing obligation referred to in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 applies from 1 January 2015. For turbot fisheries the landing obligation referred to in that Article applies from 1 January 2017.
The use of fishing opportunities set out in this Regulation is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009(2) and in particular to Articles 33 and 34 thereof concerning the recording of catches and the notification of data on the exhaustion of fishing opportunities. It is therefore necessary to specify the codes to be used by Member States when sending data to the Commission relating to landings of stocks subject to this Regulation.
In accordance with Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96(3), the stocks that are subject to the various measures referred to therein must be identified.
As regards turbot stocks, further remedial measures should be taken. Maintaining the currently applicable 2 months' closure period, from 15 April to 15 June, would continue to provide protection for those stocks during the spawning season of turbot. Managing the fishing effort and limiting the fishing days to 180 per year would have a positive conservation impact on turbot stocks.
Fishing opportunities should be used in full compliance with the applicable law of the Union.
In order to avoid interruption of fishing activities and to ensure the livelihood of Union fishermen, it is important to open the fisheries concerned in the Black Sea on 1 January 2018. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
This Regulation fixes the fishing opportunities by Union fishing vessels flying the flag of Bulgaria and of Romania for 2018 for certain fish stocks in the Black Sea:
turbot (Psetta maxima);
sprat (Sprattus sprattus).
This Regulation shall apply to Union fishing vessels operating in the Black Sea.
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
‘GFCM’ means General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean;
‘Black Sea’ means the geographical sub-area 29 as defined in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1343/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council(4);
‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources;
‘Union fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;
‘stock’ means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area;
‘Union autonomous quota’ means a limit of the catches autonomously allocated to Union fishing vessels in the absence of an agreed TAC;
‘analytical quota’ means a Union autonomous quota for which an analytical assessment is available.