Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas
Date: 1994-12-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: authorised catch, catch quota, common fisheries policy, conservation of fish stocks, fishery management, fishery resources

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

COM(94) 583 final 
Brussels, 08.12.1994 

94/0303  (CNS) 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EC) 

introducing additional  conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Although  the  new basic  regulation  (R  (EEQNo  3760/92) has  established  the possibility  of 
extending the management  rules defining  the conditions  for the pursuit  of fishing activities, 
the  conservation  policy  has  relied  up  to  now  on  the  definition  of  annual  Total  Allowable 
Catches (TACs), agreed for the forthcoming year by the Council of Ministers. The TACs are 
specified  for  a  number  of  species  and,  within  each  species,  for  a  number  of  geographical 
areas.  With  some  exceptions,  each  TAC  is  shared  in  agreed  proportions  between  Member 
States  as  national  quotas.  Member  States  may  exchange  among  themselves  all  or  part  of 
quotas  allocated. 

If,  during  a  year,  a  Member  State  exhausts  one  of  its  quotas,  landings  of  the  species 
concerned  by  vessels  of  that  Member  state  are prohibited  for  the  rest  of  the  year  and  any 
further  catches  of the appropriate  species have to be discarded. 

Application  of this  system  creates  a number  of consequences: 

1. 

2. 

Prohibition  of  landings  of  a  species  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  catching  of  that 
species will not continue. This is particularly the case in the so-called mixed  fisheries 
for demersal  fish where a number of species are taken simultaneously  in each  fishing 
operation  by  each  fishing  vessel.  Strict  adherence  to  the  legal  requirements  of  the 
management  system  therefore  results  in  discards  of  fish.  Discarded  fish  are  almost 
always  dead  or  moribund.  Fishermen  regard  this  practice  as  a  waste  of  potentially. 
marketable  fish.  Scientists  recognise  that  such  a  procedure  contributes  little  to  the 
control  of fishing  mortality  rate and hence conservation  effects  are minimal. 

Because fishermen  resent the loss of potentially marketable fish, the temptation exists 
to continue to land species after exhaustion of a quota. In such instances landings may 
be  declared  against  some  other  quota  for  the  same  species,  or  against  a  quota  for 
another  species  or  are  simply  not  declared.  Indeed,  the  temptation  to  misdeclare 
landings may arise before  a quota is exhausted to ensure that official  statistics do not 
reveal  the existence  of a problem. 

Articles 2 (2) and (3) and Article 3 (1) of this proposed regulation are intended to ameliorate 
the present  situation. 

Furthermore, in some instances, voluntary restraint on the part of Member States in the uptake 
of their  quotas  should  be  encouraged  and, to the  extent possible,  rewarded.  Article  3 (2)  is 
intended to provide  appropriate  conditions to do so. 

However,  for  stocks which  are in a poor  state, it  is unwise at present to offer  flexibility. 

Furthermore,  overfishing  of  precautionary  TACs  should  be  discouraged  and  overfishing  of 
quotas within analytical TACs should be penalised. Article 4 provides the mechanisms to do 
so. 

l 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  conditions  defined  within  this  proposal  are  by  no  means  all-
embracing to  resolve the above-mentioned  difficulties.  However,  it  is felt  that they  provide 
a  reasonable  degree of flexibility  which has not previously  existed.  Further  adaptations  and 
amendments  can be envisaged  in the light  of experience of application  of this proposal. 

The  proposed  flexibility  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  definition  of  midterm 
objectives  and  management  (COM(93)663  final  of  15.12.1993),  as  complementary 
components of a multiannual framework. On the one hand for stocks which require it, a more 
ambitious  conservation  policy  must  result  in  the  medium  term  in  a  real  reduction  in 
exploitation rates, which has not been possible to achieve up to now, while on the other hand 
more flexibility  will  avoid unnecessary  short term constraints. 

*«MÉWitMpM^M#W 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL  REGULATION  (EC) 
introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas 

THE COUNCIL  OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,  and in particular Article 

43 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 

Whereas, in addition to the provisions listed in Article 4 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 

3760/92  of  20  December  1992  establishing  a  Community  system  for  fisheries  and 
aquaculture1,  it  is necessary  to  lay  down conditions  for  the pursuit  of exploitation  activities 

which  would  improve  the  mechanisms" presently  available  by  the  introduction  of  the 

appropriate year to year flexibility  in the management of total allowable catches (TACs) and 

quotas which,  within  certain  limits,  is compatible with conservation policies; 

Whereas, pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, it is the role of the Council 

to establish the  fishing  availabilities  to be allocated to Member  States  and to determine  the 

conditions  for  adjusting  these availabilities from one year to the next; 

Whereas precautionary  TACs apply to stocks for which no scientifically-based  evaluation of 

fishing  possibilities  is  available  specifically  for  the  year  in which  the  TACs  are  to  be  set; 

whereas  analytical  TACs  apply  otherwise;  whereas  definition  of  stocks  subject 

to 

precautionary  or analytical  TACs  is required; 

1  OJNoL389,  31.12.1992, p. 1 

•éètêÊkémfmmmmagaaSB 

Whereas under certain conditions, precautionary TACs  and quotas for certain stocks may be 

revised  upwards  during  the  year  with  negligible  danger  of  undermining  the  principle  of 

rational  and responsible  exploitation  of marine resources; 

Whereas it is appropriate to encourage Member States to transfer part of their quotas of stocks 

subject  to analytical  TAC from one year to another within certain limits; 

Whereas  other  stocks  subject  to either  an analytical  or a precautionary  TAC  may be known 

to  be  in a state of exploitation  such that  any  increase  in the TAC  is undesirable; 

Whereas overfishing of quotas should be penalised; whereas this can be achieved by imposing 

appropriate reductions in the following year's quota on the Member States responsible for the 

overfishing;  whereas,  in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation  (EC) No  2847/93  of  12 
October  1993, establishing a control  system applicable to the common fisheries policy2, the 

Council shall adopt rules by which the Commission may operate deductions from the quotas 

when  overfishing  has  taken  place  in  accordance  with  the  objectives  and  management 
strategies set out  in Council Regulation (EC) No  .....3, and taking into account the degree of 

the overfishing,  any cases of overfishing in the previous year, and the biological status of the 

resources concerned, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Aitidel 

When  fixing  TACs  in  accordance  with  Article  8  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3760/92,  the 

Council  shall decide which stocks are subject  to a precautionary  TAC and which stocks are 

subject to an analytical TAC. 

2  OJ No L 261, 20.10.1993, p.l 

3  Qï No L.... 

* 

Article 2 

Precautionary  TACs 

1)  When  fixing  TACs  in  accordance  with Article  8 of  Regulation  (EEC) No  3760/92,  the 

Council  shall  determine the stocks to which the provisions  of this  article shall not  apply. 

2) When  more than  75% of a precautionary  TAC has been utilised  before  30  September  of 

the year of its application, a Member State with a quota for the stock for which that TAC has 

been  fixed  may  request  an  increase  in  the  TAC.  Such  a  request,  accompanied  by  relevant 

supporting biological  information  and an indication of the magnitude of the revision, shall be 

addressed  to the  Commission.  The Commission, within  30 working  days, shall  examine all 

the  elements  of  the  request  with  a  view  to  presenting  to  the  Council  a  proposal  for  an 

amendment  of  the  regulation  fixing  TACs  and  quotas  if  it  is  found justified.  The  Member 

State shall be  informed  of the results of the  examination. 

3)  When  more  than  75% of  a  quota  for  a  stock  subject  to  a  precautionary  TAC  has  been 

utilised before  30 September  of the year of its application, the Member  State to which  such 

a quota has been allocated may request permission to land additional quantities offish  of the 

same stock indicating the additional quantity required, this quantity not to exceed 20% of the 

appropriate  quota. 

The request,  to be addressed to the Commission, shall be admissible only  if landings of the 

species  covered  by the quota have been banned at  least once in the previous  3 years  due to 

quota exhaustion.  The Commission  shall  decide within  30 working days. 

«•mWta4#MftÉi 

Article 3 

Analytical  TACs 

1)  The  provisions  of  Article  2  (3)  shall  apply  mutatis  mutandis  to  stocks  subject  to  an 

analytical  TAC,  except  to those referred  to  in Article 4 (2). 

2) For stocks subject  to analytical  TAC, except those referred to in Article 4 (2),  a Member 

State to which a relevant quota has been allocated may ask the Commission, before 31 March 

of the  year  of  application  of  the  quota,  to withhold  a maximum  of  20% of  its  quota  to  be 

transferred  to the following  year. 

The  Commission  shall  increase  the  relevant  quota  for  the  following  year  by  the  quantity 

withheld, multiplied by  1.1, and inform the Member States thereof. This increase of the quota 

shall  not  be taken  into account  in the  calculation  of the percentages  of quota referred  to  in 

this regulation. 

Article 4 

Deductions 

1.  Except  for  the  stocks  referred  to  in paragraph  2,  if  a TAC  is  exceeded,  all  landings  in 

excess  of the respective  quotas  shall  be  deducted from the quotas  of the  same stock  in the 

following  year. 

2.  When  fixing  TACs  in  accordance  with  Article  8  of  Regulation  (EEC) No  3760/92,  the 

Council  shall  determine  the  stocks  subject  to  analytical  TACs  for  which  overfishing  of  a 

quota  shall  lead  to deduction from the corresponding  quota  in the  following  year  according 

to the following  table : 

4tM«M^fiM#l«iiiWk|MgU)(wd/mr 

Extent of the overfishing 

relative to the quota available 

Deduction 

Less than 5% 

5% to less than  10% 

10% to less than 20% 

20% to less than 40% 

40% to less than 60% 

Greater than 60% 

Overfishing  x 1.05 

Overfishing  x 1.10 

Overfishing  x 1.20 

Overfishing  x  1.40 

Overfishing x 1.60 

Overfishing  x  1.75 

An additional  5% of quota shall also be deducted for each successive year in which a quota 

is overfished. 

The deductions shall be decided by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid 

down in Art. 36 of Regulation (EQ No 2847/93. 

3. Deductions shall be without prejudice to Article 21 (4) of Regulation (EQ No 2847/93 

Article 5 

This Regulation shall enter into force on  1  January 1995. 

However, Article 4 (2) shall apply from 1  January 1996. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at 

For the Council, 

The President 

KSN 0254-1475 

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