Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001 laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish
Date: 2002-07-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, catch of fish, data collection, data transmission, fishery management, fishery resources, fishing controls, fishing regulations, statistics

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Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001
laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish

(2002/C 291 E/12)

COM(2002) 421 final — 2002/0186(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 24 July 2002)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The European Community participates in a number of regional fisheries organisations (RFOs) which
provide a framework for regional cooperation on the conservation and management of fishery resources.

Since 14 November 1997 the Community has been a Contracting Party to the International Convention
for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter called the ICCAT Convention).

The Community has also approved the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (hereinafter called IOTC).

The control measures adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
(ICCAT) and the IOTC were transposed by Council Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001
laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish (1).

New control measures have been adopted by the ICCAT for certain stocks of highly migratory species in
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and by the IOTC for such species in the Indian Ocean.

The purpose of this proposal is thus to transpose these new measures into Community law by amending
Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001.

The Commission proposes that the Council adopt this proposal.

(1) OJ L 263, 3.10.2001, p. 1.

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

These recommendations and resolutions are binding on the
Community and should therefore be implemented.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 should therefore be

amended accordingly,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1) The International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (hereinafter called the ICCAT) has adopted
a number of recommendations and the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (hereinafter called the IOTC) has adopted a
number of resolutions creating control and surveillance
obligations, which have been transposed in Regulation
(EC) No 1936/2001 (1).

(2) In 2001, the ICCAT at its 17th meeting and the IOTC at its
sixth
new control
measures for certain stocks of highly migratory species.

ordinary meeting

recommended

(1) OJ L 263, 3.10.2001, p. 1.

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 is amended as follows:

1. Article 5 is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1. Member States shall transmit to the Commission,
which in turn will transmit to the ICCAT Executive
Secretariat
in electronic form the annual nominal
catch data (task I as defined by the ICCAT) for the
species indicated in Annex II. No later than 30 June
of
shall
the
transmit
for scientific purposes,
the definitive estimates for the entire year or, where
this is not possible, preliminary estimates.’

following year,
to the Commission,

the Member States

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(b) In paragraph 2,

the introductory sentence shall be

6. The following Article is inserted after Article 19:

replaced by the following:

Before 31 July each year, the Member States shall
‘2.
transmit the following data (task II as defined by the
ICCAT)
in electronic form, with electronic access for
the Commission, to the ICCAT Executive Secretariat:’

2. The following paragraph is inserted after Article 6(1):

The Member States shall

to the ICCAT
‘1a.
Executive Secretariat
scientific
in electronic
purposes, data on catches and effort as defined by the
ICCAT, in particular estimates of discards of dead porbeagle,
shortfin mako and blue sharks.’

transmit
form,

for

‘Article 19a

Measures to combat illegal, unregulated and undeclared
fishing

Each Member State shall ensure,
in accordance with its
national legislation, that importers, transporters and other
operators refrain from participating in the trade in and
transhipment of tuna and tuna-like fish caught by vessels
whose fishing activities are illegal, unregulated or unde-
clared, in particular all fishing that does not comply with
and conservation measures
the
adopted by the ICCAT.’

relevant management

7. The following Articles are inserted after Article 20:

‘Article 20a

3. The following Article is inserted after Article 6:

Transmission of statistics for scientific purposes

‘Article 6a

Information on catches of white marlin and blue marlin

1. Masters of Community vessels shall record each day in
their logbook information on the release of white and blue
marlin, whether alive or dead, by sector not exceeding 5°
longitude by 5° latitude, and shall indicate in their landing
statements the number or weight of white marlin and blue
marlin landed.

2.
The Member States shall transmit in electronic form to
the Commission, for scientific purposes, the data on catches,
including release, and landings of white and blue marlin. No
later than 30 June of the following year, the Member States
shall transmit the definitive estimates for the entire year or,
where this is not possible, preliminary estimates.’

4. In Article 9(1),

‘15 June’ shall be replaced by ‘15 August’.

5. The following Article is inserted after Article 9:

‘Article 9a

Annual statement on the application of the ICCAT
management standards by large longliners

1.
The Member States shall transmit the following data in
electronic form, with electronic access for the Commission,
in accordance with the
to the Secretariat of
referred to in
statistics
procedures
Annex IV:

the IOTC,
submission of

for

(a) data on fishing effort and catches of the species referred

to in Article 1 for the previous year,

(b) data on the sizes of the species referred to in Article 1

for the previous year,

(c) data on tuna fishing using floating objects,

including

devices for aggregating the fish.

The Member States

2.
set up a computerised
shall
database containing the statistical data provided for in
paragraph 1, to which the Commission shall have electronic
access.

Article 20b

Community participation

1.
Only Community fishing vessels holding a special
fishing licence issued by their flag Member State shall be
authorised to fish in the IOTC area, on the terms set out in
the licence.

Before 15 August each year, Member States with longliners
of a length overall of more than 24 metres authorised to
fish in the Convention area
to the
Commission the Annual statement on the application of
the ICCAT management
standards by large longliners,
using the specimen set out in Annex III.’

transmit

shall

2.
The Member States shall transmit to the Commission
in electronic form a list of all the vessels flying their flag
and registered in the Community with a length overall of
more than 24 metres, or more than 20 metres between
indi-
perpendiculars, authorised to fish in the IOTC area,
cating
and any
species of
amendments to that list.

each vessel,

target

the

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This list shall be transmitted no later than 1 January each
year and,
in the case of amendments, at least five days
before the vessel enters the area. The Commission shall
forward this information to the Secretariat of the IOTC as
soon as possible.

The list referred to in paragraph 2 shall contain the

3.
following information:

(a) the internal number allocated to each vessel

in the
fishing vessel register, in accordance with Article 5 of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2090/98 (*),

(b) previous flag(s), if any,

(c) the name and address of the owner(s), operator(s) and/or

charterer(s).

___________
(*) OJ L 266, 1.10.1998, p. 27.

Article 20c

Marking of fishing gear

1.
The Member States shall ensure that gear used by the
fishing vessels flying their flags and authorised to fish in the
IOTC area is marked as follows: the ends of nets, lines and
gear in the sea shall be fitted with flag or radar reflector
buoys by day and light buoys by night sufficient to indicate
their position and extent.

2. Marker buoys and similar floating objects intended to
indicate the location of fixed fishing gear shall be clearly
marked at all times with the letter(s) and/or number(s) of
the vessel(s) to which they belong.

3.
Fish aggregating devices must be clearly marked at all
times with the letter(s) and/or number(s) of the vessel(s) to
which they belong.’

8. The following Article is inserted after Article 21:

‘Article 21a

Monitoring fishing activity

Article 18 shall apply mutatis mutandis.’

9. The Annex to this Regulation is added as Annexes III and

IV.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

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

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX III

Attachment II

Catch and effort data

ANNEX IV

Surface fisheries: catch data in nominal catch weight and effort data in fishing days (purse seine, baitboat, troll, drift nets)
should be provided to the IOTC by 1° grid area and month strata. Purse seine fishery data should be stratified by type of
school. Those data should preferably be extrapolated to the national monthly catches of each gear. The raising factors
used, corresponding to the logbook coverage, should be given routinely to the IOTC.

Longline fisheries: catch and effort data of the longline fisheries should be provided to the IOTC by 5° grid area and
month strata, preferably in numbers and in weight. Fishing effort should be given in numbers of hooks. Those data
should preferably be extrapolated to the national monthly catches. The raising factors used, corresponding to the
logbook coverage, should be given routinely to the IOTC.

The catches, efforts and sizes of the artisanal, small scale and sport fisheries should also be submitted on a monthly basis,
but using the best geographical areas used to collect and process those data.

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Size data

Considering that size data are of key importance for most tuna stock assessment, length data, including the total number
of fish measured, should be routinely submitted to the IOTC on a 5° grid area and month basis, by gear and fishing
mode (e.g. free/log schools for the purse seiners). Size data should be provided for all gears and for all species covered
by the IOTC. Size data sampling should preferably be run under strict and well described random sampling schemes
which are necessary to provide unbiased figures of the sizes taken. The exact recommended level of sampling could vary
between species (as a function of various parameters), but the specific level of recommended sampling needs to be
established by the working party on statistics. More detailed size data, for instance size by individual samples, should
also be made available to the IOTC when requested by specific working groups, but under strict rules of confidentiality.

Fishing for tunas in association with floating objects including Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs)

For IOTC to understand better changing patterns in effective fishing effort in respect of fleets operating in its Area of
Competence, more information has to be obtained. Since the activities of supply vessels and the use of Fish Aggregating
Devices (FAD) are an integral part of the fishing effort exerted by the purse seine fleet, the following information should
be routinely submitted to the IOTC:

Number and characteristics of supply vessels: (i) operating under their flag, (ii) assisting purse seine vessels operating under
their flag, or (iii) licensed to operate in their exclusive economic zones, and that have been present in the IOTC Area of
Competence.

Levels of activity of supply vessels: including number of days at sea by 1° grid area and month basis.

In addition, Contracting Parties and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties shall make their best endeavours to provide
data on the total number and type of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) operated by the fleet by 5° grid area and month basis.

Timeliness of data submission to the IOTC

It is essential that all the fishery data be available in due time to allow the monitoring of stocks and analysis of the data.
It is thus recommended that the following rules should be applied as standard obligations:

Surface fleets and other fleets operating in coastal zone (including supply vessels) must provide their fishery data at the earliest
possible date but no later than 30 June each year (previous year's data).

Longline fleets operating on the high seas must provide the provisional fishery data at the earliest date, but no later than
30 June (previous year's data). They must provide the final estimate of their fishery data before 30 December each year
(previous year's data).

The delays presently required to submit statistics could be reduced in the future because of the development of
communication and data processing technologies, which should reduce the present data processing delays.’