COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the Regulation (EU)2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 establishing specific conditions for fishing for deep-sea stocks in the north-east Atlantic and provisions for fishing in international waters of the north-east Atlantic and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002
Date: 2021-05-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, EU waters, catch by species, catch quota, conservation of fish stocks, deep-sea fishing, fishing area, fishing rights, international waters, sea fish

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.5.2021  SWD(2021) 111 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the Regulation (EU)2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016  establishing specific conditions for fishing for deep-sea stocks in the north-east Atlantic and provisions for fishing in international waters of the north-east Atlantic and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 {SWD(2021) 110 final}  
 
 
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION 

of the 

Regulation (EU)2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 14 December 2016 

establishing specific conditions for fishing for deep-sea stocks in the north-east Atlantic 
and provisions for fishing in international waters of the north-east Atlantic and 
repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 

Executive Summary 

Fishing for deep-sea species occur on deep-water slopes, ridges and seamounts with gears that 
can scrape the bottom of the seabed. This leads to important impacts on the deep-sea fauna, 
which  is  made  of  slow-growing  and  long-lived  species,  such  as  coral  reefs  and  garden, 
sponges,  anemones  and  sea  pens,  which  compose  the  so-called  “vulnerable  marine 
ecosystems” (VMEs).   

In  2016,  the  EU  adopted  Regulation  (EU)  2016/23361,  called  the  “Deep-sea  Access 
Regulation”  (DSAR),  governing  access  to  deep-sea  fishing  and  setting  conditions  for 
protecting VMEs in international and EU waters2. The DSAR aims to establish a sustainable 
exploitation  of  deep-sea  stocks  while  reducing  the  environmental  impact  of  these 
fisheries  and  preventing  significant  adverse  impacts  on  VMEs,  and  to  improve  the 
information base for scientific assessment, through data collection.  

The main provisions foreseen by the DSAR to contribute to these objectives include: 

  a  fishing  authorisation  scheme  for  vessels  targeting  deep-sea  species  and  for  vessels 

catching deep-sea species as by-catch,  
fishing capacity limits for fishing vessels engaged in deep-sea fisheries,  

 
  spatial  measures  limiting  deep-sea  fishing  areas,  protecting  VMEs  and  prohibiting 

bottom trawling below 800 meters, 

  a VME encounter protocol to report and cease fishing in vulnerable areas, 
  stringent control and monitoring provisions, and  
  a specific observer coverage (20% for fishing vessels targeting deep-sea species with 
bottom  trawls  or  bottom  set  gillnets,  10%  for  all  other  vessels  catching  deep-sea 
species as target or by-catch). 

1 Regulation (EU) 2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 establishing 
specific  conditions  for  fishing  for  deep-sea  stocks  in  the  north-east  Atlantic  and  provisions  for  fishing  in 
international waters of the north-east Atlantic and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002. 
2  International  waters  of  the  Fishery  Committee  for  the  Eastern  Central  Atlantic  (CECAF  areas  34.1.1, 34.1.2 
and 34.2) and EU waters of the Atlantic Ocean. 

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This  evaluation  examines,  following  the  European  Commission’s  Better  Regulation 
guidelines,  the  relevance,  effectiveness,  efficiency,  coherence  and  EU  added-value  of  the 
DSAR since its entry into force in 2017. However two spatial measures are still pending for 
adoption:  the definition of existing areas delimitating where vessels with  a targeting fishing 
authorisation  may  operate  (“the  footprint”)  and  the  list  of  areas  where  VMEs  are  known  to 
occur  or  likely  to  occur  in  which  fishing  vessels  using  bottom  gears  will  be  prohibited  to 
operate  below  400  meters  (“the  VMEs  closures”).  The  evaluation  therefore  outlines 
conclusions  proportionate  to  this  scope  covering  the  implementation  period  from  2017  to 
2020.    

The evaluation of the Deep-sea Access Regulation is based on the following sources:  
  an external study supporting the evaluation of the DSAR completed in 20203; 
  a  series  of  targeted  consultations  with  stakeholders,  including  Member  States’ 

authorities, fishermen associations, research institutions and NGOs; and 
  a public consultation, open online between 13 May 2020 and 5 August 20204. 

Regarding  the  relevance  of  the  DSAR,  it  was  necessary  to  reform5  the  deep-sea  access 
management  regime  of  Regulation  (EC)  2347/20026  to  ensure  better  alignment  with  the 
United Nations General Assembly Resolutions7 and to include the ecosystem-based approach 
of  the  Common  Fisheries  Policy  Regulation  adopted  in  2013.  The  design  of  the  DSAR  is 
appropriate to address the need for an improved scientific knowledge on deep-sea species and 
their habitats  and for the prevention of significant  adverse impacts  on VMEs and long-term 
conservation of deep-sea fish stocks. The evaluation did not identify any gap in the measures 
in place, but showed that the capacity management regime has become less relevant in view 
of the decreasing levels of fishing activities on deep-sea stocks since 2017.   

The  DSAR  has  proven  its  effectiveness  in  contributing  to  the  preservation  of  deep-sea  fish 
stocks through the prohibition to fish below 800 meters with bottom trawls. The prohibition 
decreased accessibility of some key commercial deep-sea species to bottom trawlers, such as 
grenadiers, orange roughy and black scabbardfish. This contributed to a decrease in catches of 
other deep-sea species caught  as by-catches, in  particular deep-sea sharks.  The DSAR, with 
the  Data  Collection  Regulation  (EU)  2017/10048,  has  been  effective  in  improving  scientific 
knowledge  for  three  stocks  of  greater  silver  smelt  and  black  scabbardfish.  The  uneven 
application  of  the  observer  programme  coverage  by  Member  States  and  the  lack  of  VME 
encounter  records have led to  a reduced  effectiveness  in  improving scientific knowledge on 
deep-sea habitats. Due to the delayed adoption of the VMEs closures, the DSAR has not been 
effective so far to ensure VMEs protection in EU waters.  

3 European Commission, “Study supporting the Evaluation of the Deep-sea Access Regulation” (2020). 
4 EU – Have your say: Public Consultation on the Evaluation of deep-sea fishing in the NE Atlantic. 
5 Staff Working Document (SWD/2012/0202) of 19 July 2012 - Impact Assessment accompanying the Proposal 
for  a  Regulation  establishing  specific  conditions  to  fishing  for  deep-sea  stocks  in  the  North-East  Atlantic  and 
provisions  for  fishing  in  international  waters  of  the  North-East  Atlantic  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No 
2347/2002. 
6  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2347/2002  of  16  December  2002  establishing  specific  access  requirements  and 
associated conditions applicable to fishing for deep-sea stocks. 
7 Resolutions 61/105 and 64/72 of the United Nations General Assembly. 
8  Regulation  (EU)  2017/1004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  17  May  2017  on  the 
establishment of a Union framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and 
support for scientific advice regarding the common fisheries policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 
199/2008. 

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The DSAR management regime for fishing authorisation appears to be efficient. The fishing 
authorisation regime is the main driver for administrative cost for Member States, notably for 
Portugal,  Spain  and  France  issuing  most  fishing  authorisations.  Other  costs  are  a  relatively 
small part of the monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing vessels under Member States 
competence or of the collection of scientific data under the EU Data Collection Framework.  

The  coherence  of  the  DSAR  with  Resolutions  61/105  and  64/72  of  the  United  Nations 
General Assembly on the protection of deep-sea ecosystems is broadly acknowledged, despite 
the  delay  in  defining  VMEs  closures.  The  DSAR  is  aligned  to  NEAFC  Recommendation 
19.2014  with  even  more  stringent  measures  on  harmful  gears.  The  DSAR  is  coherent  with 
EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Habitats Directive, with synergies on habitats 
protection  and  impact  mitigation.  The  DSAR  goes  further  than  the  TAC  and  quota 
Regulations  and  the  Technical  Measures  Regulation  on  the  protection  of  deep-sea  shark 
species,  by  listing  many  sharks  as  ‘Most  Vulnerable’.  The  DSAR  and  Regulation  (EC) 
734/2008  on  the  protection  of  VMEs  in  the  high  seas  have  complementary  provisions  for 
VMEs protection against bottom fishing gears.  

The  added-value  of  the  EU  intervention  through  the  DSAR  is  to  ensure  application  of  its 
measures to any EU or third country fishing vessel exploiting deep-sea species in EU waters, 
guaranteeing  a  level  playing  field  for  fishing  operators.  The  added-value  results  from  the 
alignment  of  the  EU  management  of  deep-sea  fisheries  with  UN  standards,  from  the 
transparent and science-based identification of VMEs areas, from the haul-by-haul reporting 
of deep-sea fishing activities and from the compulsory observer coverage whose coverage is 
significantly  higher  than  the  one  implemented  by  Member  States  under  the  EU  Data 
Collection Framework. 

The  overarching  conclusion  of  this  evaluation  is  that  the  Deep-sea  Access  Regulation  is  fit 
for purpose in its contributions to the three objectives of i) improving scientific knowledge 
on deep-sea species and their habitats, ii) preventing significant impacts on VMEs within the 
framework of deep-sea fishing and ensuring long-term conservation of deep-sea fish stocks, 
and  iii)  ensuring  consistency  of  EU  deep-sea  conservation  scheme  with  resolutions  of  the 
United Nations General Assembly. 

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