Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 as regards fishing opportunities for anchovy and anglerfish in certain zones
Date: 2003-10-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU waters, authorised catch, conservation of fish stocks, fishing regulations, sea fish

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 28.10.2003
COM(2003) 641 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 as regards fishing opportunities for anchovy
and anglerfish in certain zones

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

In Council Regulation (EEC)  No  2341/2002  of  20  December  2002  on  the  conservation  and
sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy1, it is stated
that the total allowable catch (TAC) of anchovy for ICES Sub-area VIII would be reviewed in
the light of new scientific advice. The Commission has received new advice from the meeting
of  an  Ad  hoc  Working  group,  within  the  framework  of  the  Commission’s  Scientific,
Technical  and  Economic  Committee  for  Fisheries,  on  “In-season  assessment  of  anchovy  in
the  Bay  of  Biscay”  that  met  from  7  to  11  July  in  Pasaia,  Gipuzkoa  (Spain).  The  scientific
advice is based on new information that indicates that previous concerns about the low state
of  the  anchovy  stock  are  confirmed  by  recent  scientific  surveys  and  that  a  catch  level  of
11  000  tonnes  is  appropriate  to  avoid  an  increase  in  fishing  mortality  during  2003.  The
Commission therefore proposes to adapt the TAC in line with scientific advice.

New information from the scientific surveys and the fishing industry have indicated a higher
than  expected  abundance  of  the  anglerfish  stocks  in  ICES  Sub-area  VII  and  Divisions
VIIIa,b,d,e. Based on new advice from ICES, the Commission proposes to adapt the TAC in
line  with  new  scientific  advice.  The  increase  in  TAC  is  considered  desirable  to  reduce  the
incidence of discarding of anglerfish while they are caught in mixed fisheries with hake, sole
and megrim.  In  accordance  with  advice,  the  increase  is  moderate  in  order  to  avoid  targeted
catching of small anglerfish and to avoid increasing effort in an area where other vulnerable
fish stocks are distributed.

The  Council  is  requested  to  adopt  this  proposal  as  soon  as  possible  in  order  to  allow
fishermen to plan their activities for this fishing season.

1

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.

2

                                                
Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 as regards fishing opportunities for anchovy
and anglerfish in certain zones

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having  regard  to  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2371/2002  of  20  December  2002  on  the
conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries
Policy 2, and in particular Article 20(1) and (4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2341/20024,  fixes  the  fishing  opportunities  and
associated  conditions  for  certain  fish  stocks  and  groups  of  stocks  applicable  in
Community  waters  and  for  Community  vessels,  in  waters  where  limitations  in  catch
are required for 2003.

The  total  allowable  catch  (TAC)  for  anchovy  in  the  International  Council  for  the
Exploration  of  the  Sea  (ICES)  Sub-area  VIII  should  be  set  to  11  000  tonnes  for  the
whole year 2003 taking into account new scientific advice received from a Report of
the meeting of an Ad hoc Working group, within the framework of the Commission’s
Scientific,  Technical  and  Economic  Committee  for  Fisheries,  on  “In-season
assessment  of  anchovy  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay”  that  met  from  7  to  11  July  2003.
However, the reduction of  the  TAC should not lead to  the result that catches  legally
taken  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  present  Regulation  are  liable  to  quota
deductions under Article 23 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/935, Article 5
of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/966 or Article 23 of Council Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002.

(3)

The TAC for anglerfish in ICES Sub-area VII and Divisions VIII a,b,d,e should be set
to  17  138  tonnes  and  3862  tonnes  respectively  for  the  whole  year  2003  taking  into
account new scientific advice from ICES.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 should therefore be amended accordingly,

2

3

4

5

6

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
OJ C , , p. .
OJ  L  356,  31.12.2002,  p.  12.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No
1407/2003 (OJ L 201, 8.8.2003, p. 3.)
OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 (OJ L 212,
16.5.2003, p. 1)
OJ 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3 .

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex ID to Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this
Regulation.

Article 2

Article 23 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 and
Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 shall not apply to catches of anchovy taken in
Zone  VIII  before  the  entry  into  force  of  this  Regulation  which  are  in  excess  of  the  quota
determined in Annex ID to Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 as amended by this Regulation.

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

Article 3

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

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ANNEX

In Annex ID to Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002, the entries concerning the species Anchovy
in zone ”VIII” and the species Anglerfish in zones ”VII” and ”VIIIa, b, d, e” are replaced by
the following:

Species:

Anchovy

Zone:

VIII

Engraulis encrasicolus

Spain

France

EC

TAC

Species:

Belgium

Germany

Spain

France

Ireland

The Netherlands

United Kingdom

EC

TAC

Species:

Spain

France

EC

TAC

9 900

1 100

11 000

11 000

Anglerfish

Lophiidae

1 584

 177

 629

10 162

1 299

 205

3 082

17 138

17 138

Anglerfish

Lophiidae

 588

3 274

3 862

3 862

Zone:

VII

Zone:

VIIIa,b,d,e

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