Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 2011/-2012 fishing season
Date: 2011-07-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU waters, France, Spain, authorised catch, fishery resources, fishing area, fishing rights, management of resources, sustainable development

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 8.7.2011 
COM(2011) 426 final 

2011/0186 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 2011/-2012 
fishing season 

 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Council Regulation (EU) No 57/20111 did not fix a TAC for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay in 
2011,  because  this  TAC  had  already  been  established  via  Council  Regulation  (EU) 
No 685/20102 establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 
2010/11 fishing season. 

2. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Having  regard  to  the  objectives  of  the  Common  Fisheries  Policy,  laid  down  in  Council 
Regulation  (EC)  No  2371/2002  of  20  December  2002  on  the  conservation  and  sustainable 
exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy, fishing opportunities 
should be established on the basis of the available scientific advice and by taking into account 
the  biological  and  socio-economic  aspects  whilst  ensuring  fair  treatment  between  fishing 
sectors. 

For  the  anchovy  stock  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  the  advice  from  the  Scientific,  Technical  and 
Economic  Committee  for  Fisheries  (STECF)  of  15  July  2011  is  based  on  a  fishing  season 
running from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2012. 

By  way  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  53/2010,  the  Council  established  the  TAC  for  the 
fishery exploiting this stock applicable from 1 July 2010 until 30 June 2011. The TAC and its 
allocation to the Member States concerned must now be fixed for the next 12 months. 

The advice from the STECF estimates the stock biomass to be approximately 98 450 tonnes. 
Having  regard  to  the  Commission  proposal  of  29  July  2009  for  a  Regulation  establishing  a 
long-term  plan  for  the  anchovy  stock  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  fisheries  exploiting  that 
stock3  and  considering  that  the  impact  assessment  underlying  that  proposal  provides  for  the 
most recent assessment of impact of decisions on the fishing opportunities for this stock, it is 
appropriate  to  fix  a  TAC  for  this  stock  in  accordance  with  the  harvest  rule  set  out  in  the 
proposal.  Consequently,  the  TAC  for  the  fishing  season  from  1  July  2011  to  30  June  2012 
should be established at 29 700 tonnes. 

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

1 
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3 

OJ L 24, 27.1.2011, p. 1–125 
OJ L 199, 31.7.2010, p. 1–3 
COM(2009)399final 

EN 

1 

   EN 

 
                                                 
2011/0186 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 2011/-2012 
fishing season 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 43(3) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

It  is  incumbent  upon  the  Council  to  establish  the  total  allowable  catches  (TAC)  by 
fishery  or  group  of  fisheries.  Fishing  opportunities  should  be  distributed  among 
Member States in such a way as to ensure the relative stability of each Member State's 
fishing  activities  for  all  stocks  or  groups  of  stocks  and  having  due  regard  to  the 
objectives of the common fisheries policy established by Council Regulation (EC) No 
2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable  exploitation of 
fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy4. 

For the purposes of suitable stock management and simplification, it is appropriate to 
set  a  TAC  and  to  set  Member  State  quotas  for  the  stock  of  anchovy  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay (ICES subarea VIII) for an annual management season running from 1 July to 
30 June of the following year, rather than a calendar year management period. 

Accordingly,  Council  Regulation  (EU)  No  57/20115  established 
the  fishing 
opportunities  for  certain  fish  stocks  in  2011,  with  the  exclusion  of  the  stock  of 
anchovy in the Bay of Biscay. 

The  Bay  of  Biscay  anchovy  TAC  for  the  2011/2012  fishing  season  should  be 
established  on  the  basis  of  scientific  advice  available,  taking  into  account  biological 
and socioeconomic aspects and ensuring fair treatment between fishing sectors. 

In order to provide for a multiannual plan for the anchovy stock in the Bay of Biscay 
covering the fishing season and establishing the harvest control rule applying from the 
fixing of fishing opportunities, on 29 July 2009 the Commission presented a proposal 
for  a  regulation  establishing  a  long-term  plan  for  the  anchovy  stock  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  and  the  fisheries  exploiting  that  stock.  Having  regard  to  that  Commission 

4 
5 

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59. 
OJ L 24, 27.1.2011, p. 1–125. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
proposal and considering that the impact assessment underlying that proposal provided 
for the most recent assessment of the impact of decisions on the fishing opportunities 
for the anchovy stock in the Bay of Biscay, it is appropriate to fix a TAC for the stock 
of anchovy accordingly. The advice issued by STECF on 15 July 2011 estimated the 
stock  biomass  to  be  approximately  98  450  tonnes.  Consequently,  the  TAC  for  the 
fishing  season  running  from  1  July  2011  to  30  June  2012  should  be  established  at 
29 700 tonnes. 

In view of the specific scope and time of application of the fishing opportunities for 
anchovy, it is appropriate to establish those fishing opportunities by way of a separate 
regulation. The fishery should nevertheless remain subject to the general provisions of 
Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 concerning the conditions for the use of quotas. 

In accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing 
additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas6 it is necessary 
to establish to what extent the stock of anchovy in the Bay of Biscay is subject to the 
measures laid down in that Regulation. 

In view of the start of the 2011/2012 fishing season and for the purpose of the annual 
reporting  of  catches,  this  Regulation  should  enter  into  force  immediately  and  apply 
from 1 July 2011. 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay 

1. 

The total allowable catch (TAC) and its allocation between Member States for the 
fishing season running from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2012 for the stock of anchovy 
in ICES Subarea VIII as defined in Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 shall be as follows 
(in tonnes live weight): 

Species: 

Anchovy 

ICES Zone: 

VIII 

Engraulis encrasicolus 

(ANE/08.) 

Spain 

France 

EU 

TAC 

Analytical TAC 

26 730

2 970 

29 700 

29 700 

2. 

The  allocation  of  the  fishing  opportunities  as  set  out  in  paragraph  1  and  the  use 
thereof  shall  be  subject  to  the  conditions  set  out  in  Articles  9,  12  and  14  of 
Regulation (EU) No 57/2011. 

6 

OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3. 

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3. 

The stock referred to in paragraph 1 shall be considered subject to an analytical TAC 
for the purpose of Regulation (EC) No 847/96. Article 3(2) and (3) and Article 4 of 
that Regulation shall apply. 

Article 2 

Entry into force 

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

It shall apply from 1 July 2011. 

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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