COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2022/2458

of 14 December 2022

operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2022 in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926

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), (3) and (5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Fishing quotas for the year 2021 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2020/1579 (2), (EU) 2021/90 (3), (EU) 2021/91 (4) and (EU) 2021/92 (5).

(2) Fishing quotas for the year 2022 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2021/91, (EU) 2021/1888 (6), (EU) 2022/109 (7) and (EU) 2022/110 (8).

(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) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 (9) has established deductions from fishing quotas available for certain fish stocks in 2022 on account of overfishing in the previous years.

(5) For certain Member States, namely Spain, France, Lithuania and Poland, certain deductions could not be operated by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 from fishing quotas allocated for the overfished stocks because quotas for these stocks are not available for those Member States in the year 2022.

(6) Article 105(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that, if it is not possible to operate deductions on the overfished stock in the year following the overfishing because the Member State concerned has no available quota for that fish stock, deductions may be operated on other stocks in the same geographical area or with the same commercial value, following consultations with the Member States concerned.

(7) According to Communication from the Commission 2022/C 369/03 on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (10) (‘the Guidelines’), such deductions should be preferably operated from quotas allocated for stocks fished by the same fleet as the fleet that overfished the quota.

(8) The Member States concerned have been consulted as regards certain deductions from fishing quotas allocated for stocks other than those which have been overfished. It is therefore appropriate to operate deductions from those alternative fishing quotas allocated to those Member States in 2022.

(9) Considering that thornback ray in area 7d (RJC/07D.) is a subspecies of the stock ‘skates and rays’ in area 7d (SRX/07D.), the deduction due by Ireland on account of its overfishing of thornback ray in area 7d pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 is operated on the fishing quota for skates and rays in area 7d available to Ireland for 2022.

(10) In 2021, Portugal overfished its fishing quota for anchovy in area 9 and 10; Union waters of CECAF 34.1.1 (ANE/9/3411). On 22 August 2022, Portugal requested to spread the deduction due – including a multiplying factor of 1,4 pursuant to Article 105(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 – over three years. According to point 3(a) of the Guidelines, spreading a deduction over two or more years may be accepted where the fish is sustainably managed on the basis of the relevant scientific advice for the stock concerned. According to acoustic surveys monitoring the distribution of abundance and biomass and the study of several biological parameters of anchovy carried out every year, the estimated biomass for anchovy in 2022 increased by 64 % compared to 2021 surveys. The Portuguese scientific institute IPMA (Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera), in collaboration with the Spanish scientific institute IEO (Instituto Español de Oceanografía), test a new harvest control rule by means of a Management Strategy Evaluation. Awaiting a planned benchmark of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) for this stock, a spreading of the deduction over two years rather than three years can be accepted.

(11) On the basis of the last updated data transmitted by France on 9 September 2022, it appears that the 2021 shared quota of 1 tonne allocated to ‘Other’ for white marlin in the Atlantic Ocean (WHM/ATLANT_AMS) as established in Regulation (EU) 2021/92 – and under which France was allowed to fish – has been exceeded. Considering that France reported catches amounting to 2 972 kilograms under this ‘Other’ quota, a deduction on account of this overfishing – including a multiplying factor of 1,5 pursuant to Article 105(3)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 – should be operated on the fishing quota for white marlin in the Atlantic Ocean available to France for 2022. The corresponding deduction should consequently be added to the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926.

(12) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(13) Further updates or corrections may still occur following the detection, for the current or previous exercises, of errors, omissions or misreporting in the catch figures declared by the Member States pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 The fishing quotas fixed for the year 2022 in Regulations (EU) 2021/91, (EU) 2021/1888, (EU) 2022/109 and (EU) 2022/110, referred to in Annex I to this Regulation, shall be reduced by applying the deductions on the alternative stocks set out in that Annex.

Article 2 The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 is replaced by the text set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 3 The Portuguese deduction of 2 954,752 tonnes applicable in 2022 due to overfishing in 2021 in relation to the stock of anchovy in area 9 and 10; Union waters of CECAF 34.1.1 (ANE/9/3411) is spread over two years. The applicable annual deduction shall amount to 1 477,376 tonnes in 2022 and 2023 without prejudice to any further quota adaptation due to possible subsequent overfishing.

Article 4 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, 14 December 2022. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

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

(2) 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).

(3) 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).

(4) 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).

(5) 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).

(6) Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1888 of 27 October 2021 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/92 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 384, 29.10.2021, p. 1).

(7) Council Regulation (EU) 2022/109 of 27 January 2022 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 (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 1).

(8) Council Regulation (EU) 2022/110 of 27 January 2022 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 165).

(9) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 of 11 October 2022 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2022 on account of overfishing in the previous years (OJ L 265, 12.10.2022, p. 67).

(10) Communication from the Commission on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and replacing Communication 2012/C 72/07 (2022/C 369/03) (OJ C 369, 27.9.2022, p. 3).