Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 2012/2013 fishing season
Date: 2012-07-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, EU waters, France, Spain, authorised catch, catch quota, fishing area, sea fish

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 17.7.2012  
COM(2012) 402 final 

2012/0194 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

on establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 
2012/2013 fishing season 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Council Regulations on fishing opportunities adopted during the second half of each year no 
longer includes a TAC for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay because of the different annual cycle 
followed by the biology of this stock and the scientific advice on it. An anchovy TAC needs 
to be set around July each year. 

By  way  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  716/2011,  the  Council  established  the  TAC  for  the 
fishery exploiting this stock applicable from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2012. The TAC and its 
allocation to the Member States concerned must now be fixed for the next 12 months. 

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  July  2012  is  based  on  a  fishing  season 
running from 1 July 2011 until 30 June 2012.  

The  advice  from  the  STECF  estimates  the  spawning  stock  biomass  to  be  approximately 
68,180 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  stock1  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 2012 to 30 June 
2013 should be established at 20,700 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 

COM(2009)399final 

EN 

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2012/0194 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

on establishing the fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay for the 
2012/2013 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) 

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 Policy2. 

For  the  purposes  of  suitable  stock  management  and  simplification,  it  is  appropriate 
that  TAC  and  Member  State  quotas  for  the  stock  of  anchovy  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
(ICES subarea VIII) are set for an annual management season running from 1 July to 
30  June  of  the  following  year,  rather  than  a  calendar  year  management  period. 
Nevertheless,  fishery  should  remain  subject  to  the  general  provisions  of  Council 
Regulation (EU) No 43/20123 concerning the conditions for the use of quotas. 

The  Bay  of  Biscay  anchovy  TAC  for  the  2012/2013  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 for 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  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  TAC  for  that  stock 

2 
3 

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59. 
OJ L 25, 27.1.2012, p. 1. 

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accordingly. The advice issued by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee 
for  Fisheries  (STECF)  in  July  2012  estimated  the  spawning  stock  biomass  to  be 
approximately  68,180  tonnes.  Consequently, the  TAC  for  the  fishing  season  running 
from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 should be established at 20,700 tonnes. 

(5) 

(6) 

In  accordance  with  Article  2  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  847/96  of  6  May  1996 
introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas4, 
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 2012/2013 fishing season and for the purpose of the annual 
reporting  of  catches,  this  Regulation  should  enter  into  force  immediately  and  apply 
from 1 July 2012, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Article 1 
Fishing opportunities for anchovy in the Bay of Biscay 

The  total  allowable  catch  (TAC)  and  its  allocation  between  Member  States  for  the 
fishing season running from 1 July 2012 until 30 June 2013 for the stock of anchovy 
in ICES Subarea VIII, as defined in Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch 
statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic5, shall be as follows (in 
tonnes live weight): 

Species: 

Anchovy 

ICES Zone: 

VIII 

Engraulis encrasicolus 

(ANE/08.) 

Spain 

France 

EU 

TAC 

Analytical TAC 

18 630
2 070  
20 700  

20 700  

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  8,  10  and  13  of 
Regulation (EU) No 43/2012. 

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

4 
5 

OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3. 
OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 70. 

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Article 2 

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 2012. 

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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