COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/1420

of 30 August 2021

operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2021 on account of overfishing in the previous years

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union 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 (1), and in particular Article 105(1), (2) and (3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Fishing quotas for the year 2020 have been established by: — Council Regulation (EU) 2018/2025 (2), — Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1838 (3), — Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 (4), and — Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123 (5).

(2) Fishing quotas for the year 2021 have been established by: — Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1579 (6), — Council Regulation (EU) 2021/90 (7), — Council Regulation (EU) 2021/91 (8), and — Council Regulation (EU) 2021/92 (9).

(3) Pursuant to Article 105(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, when the Commission has established that a Member State has exceeded the fishing quotas which have been allocated to it, the Commission is to operate deductions from future fishing quotas of that Member State.

(4) Article 105(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that such deductions have to be operated in the following year or years by applying the respective multiplying factors as set out therein.

(5) Certain Member States have exceeded their fishing quotas for the year 2020. It is therefore appropriate to operate deductions on the fishing quotas allocated to them in 2021 and, where relevant, in subsequent years, for the overfished stocks.

(6) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1247 (10) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2006 (11) have set out deductions from fishing quotas for certain Member States and species for 2020. However, for certain Member States, the deductions to be applied for some species were higher than the respective quotas available in 2020 and could therefore not be operated entirely in that year. To ensure that in such cases the full amount for the respective stocks is deducted, the remaining quantities should be taken into account when establishing deductions for 2021 and, where appropriate, from subsequent quotas.

(7) In 2019, Portugal overfished its quota for albacore in the Atlantic Ocean, North of 5° N (ALB/AN05N). The deduction of 1 271,026 tonnes that resulted from this overfishing was applicable in 2020. At the request of Portugal, the corresponding deduction was equally spread over two years (2020 and 2021). By Regulation (EU) 2020/1247, the first half of the deduction, namely 635,513 tonnes, was operated on the 2020 Portuguese quota. Therefore, a remaining quantity of 635,513 tonnes should be deducted from the Portuguese quota for 2021.

(8) As regards sandeel in ICES divisions 2a, 3a and ICES subarea 4, given Denmark has overfished its total allowable catches in Union waters of management area 2r as defined in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2020/123 in 2020, it is required to operate deductions. In 2021, minimal catches have been allowed for sandeel in these waters in order to monitor the abundance of sandeel. However, with the said deductions it is impossible to maintain the monitoring system (12) advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to manage sandeel. Therefore, deductions for the quotas overfished by Denmark in 2020 in management area 2r should be operated from sandeel management area 3r in 2021.

(9) Deductions from fishing quotas, as provided for by this Regulation, should apply without prejudice to deductions applicable to 2021 Spanish quotas pursuant to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 185/2013 (13).

(10) Since quotas are expressed in tonnes, overfishing involving quantities of less than 1 tonne should not be considered,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 1. The fishing quotas fixed in Regulations (EU) 2020/1579, (EU) 2021/90, (EU) 2021/91 and (EU) 2021/92 for the year 2021 shall be reduced as set out in the Annex to this Regulation. 2. Paragraph 1 shall apply without prejudice to deductions provided for in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 185/2013.

Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 30 August 2021. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1.

(2) Council Regulation (EU) 2018/2025 of 17 December 2018 fixing for 2019 and 2020 the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 325, 20.12.2018, p. 7).

(3) Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1838 of 30 October 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/124 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 281, 31.10.2019, p. 1).

(4) Council Regulation (EU) 2019/2236 of 16 December 2019 fixing for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L 336, 30.12.2019, p. 14).

(5) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123 of 27 January 2020 fixing for 2020 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 (OJ L 25, 30.1.2020, p. 1).

(6) Council Regulation (EU) 2020/1579 of 29 October 2020 fixing for 2021 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) 2020/123 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 362, 30.10.2020, p. 3).

(7) Council Regulation (EU) 2021/90 of 28 January 2021 fixing for 2021 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L 31, 29.1.2021, p. 1).

(8) Council Regulation (EU) 2021/91 of 28 January 2021 fixing, for the years 2021 and 2022, the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 31, 29.1.2021, p. 20).

(9) Council Regulation (EU) 2021/92 of 28 January 2021 fixing for 2021 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 (OJ L 31, 29.1.2021, p. 31).

(10) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1247 of 2 September 2020 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2020 on account of overfishing in the previous years (OJ L 288, 3.9.2020, p. 21).

(11) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2006 of 8 December 2020 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2020 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1247 (OJ L 414, 9.12.2020, p. 1).

(12) ICES. 2021. Sandeel (Ammodytes spp.) in divisions 4.b–c and Subdivision 20, Sandeel Area 2r (central and southern North Sea). In Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2021. ICES Advice 2021, san.sa.2r, https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.advice.7673

(13) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 185/2013 of 5 March 2013 providing for deductions from certain fishing quotas allocated to Spain in 2013 and subsequent years on account of overfishing of a certain mackerel quota in 2009 (OJ L 62, 6.3.2013, p. 1).