Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661 of 24 August 2023 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2023 on account of overfishing in the previous years
Date: 2023-08-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU waters, catch by species, catch quota, conservation of fish stocks, fishing area, fishing rights, international waters, sea fish, sea fishing








L_2023210EN.01002301.xml










25.8.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 210/23








            COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/1661
of 24 August 2023
         
operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2023 on account of overfishing in the previous years


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (1), and in particular Article 105(1), (2) and (3) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


Fishing quotas for the year 2022 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2021/91 (2), (EU) 2021/1888 (3), (EU) 2022/109 (4) and (EU) 2022/110 (5).












(2)


Fishing quotas for the year 2023 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2022/2090 (6), (EU) 2023/194 (7) and (EU) 2023/195 (8).












(3)


Pursuant to Article 105(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, when the Commission has established that a Member State has exceeded the fishing quotas which have been allocated to it, the Commission is to operate deductions from future fishing quotas of that Member State.












(4)


Article 105(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that such deductions are to be operated in the following year or years by applying the respective multiplying factors as set out therein.












(5)


Certain Member States have exceeded their fishing quotas for the year 2022. Deductions should therefore be operated on the fishing quotas allocated to them in 2023 and, where relevant, in subsequent years, for the overfished stocks.












(6)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 (9) established deductions from fishing quotas for certain fish stocks in 2022 on account of overfishing in the previous years. In 2021, Portugal overfished its fishing quota for anchovy in areas 9 and 10; Union waters of CECAF 34.1.1 (ANE/9/3411). Following Portugal’s request on 22 August 2022, the Commission agreed to spread the deduction over two years in accordance with point 3(a) of the Communication from the Commission 2022/C 369/03 (10) (‘the Guidelines’). Article 3 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2458 (11) provides that the annual deduction shall amount to 1 477,376 tonnes in 2022 and 2023. On 19 April 2023, considering that Portugal expected to have sufficient quota left at the end of the 2022 fishing season for ANE/9/3411, it requested the Commission to cancel the spreading over two years of the deduction. Therefore, the Commission operated the entire deduction, i.e. 2 954,752 tonnes – including a multiplying factor of 1,40 – on the Portuguese quota for ANE/9/3411 for the 2022 fishing season. Consequently, there is no outstanding deduction to be operated on the Portuguese quota allocated for the 2023 fishing season for this stock.












(7)


The Guidelines replaced Communication 2012/C 72/07 to adapt, where applicable, the timeline for deductions in case of overfishing of a quota for stocks managed by regional fisheries management organisations to the timeline for deductions set in the regional fisheries management organisations concerned for these stocks. Recommendation 21-01 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) on a multiannual conservation and management programme for tropical tunas (12) as well as Recommendation 22-03 by ICCAT for the conservation of North Atlantic swordfish (13) establish that any excess of the annual adjusted quota in the year 2022 shall be deducted from the respective quota/catch limit for 2024. On this basis, deductions – including those resulting from applicable multiplying factors – on account of overfishing established in 2022 for the stock of bigeye tuna in the Atlantic Ocean (BET/ATLANT) and the stock of swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, north of 5° N (SWO/AN05N), both managed by ICCAT, should only be applied in 2024.












(8)


Further updates or corrections may still occur following the detection, for the current or previous deduction exercise, of errors, omissions or misreporting in the catch figures declared by the Member States pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.












(9)


Since quotas are expressed in tonnes, overfishing involving quantities of less than 1 tonne should not be considered,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
The fishing quotas fixed for the year 2023 in Regulations (EU) 2022/2090, (EU) 2023/194 and (EU) 2023/195 shall be reduced as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 24 August 2023.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1.

(2)  Council Regulation (EU) 2021/91 of 28 January 2021 fixing, for the years 2021 and 2022, the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 31, 29.1.2021, p. 20).

(3)  Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1888 of 27 October 2021 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/92 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 384, 29.10.2021, p. 1).

(4)  Council Regulation (EU) 2022/109 of 27 January 2022 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and for Union fishing vessels in certain non-Union waters (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 1).

(5)  Council Regulation (EU) 2022/110 of 27 January 2022 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 165).

(6)  Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2090 of 27 October 2022 fixing the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea for 2023 and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/109 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 281, 31.10.2022, p. 1).

(7)  Council Regulation (EU) 2023/194 of 30 January 2023 fixing for 2023 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, as well as fixing for 2023 and 2024 such fishing opportunities for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 28, 31.1.2023, p. 1).

(8)  Council Regulation (EU) 2023/195 of 30 January 2023 fixing for 2023 the fishing opportunities for certain stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/110 as regards the fishing opportunities for 2022 applicable in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas (OJ L 28, 31.1.2023, p. 220).

(9)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 of 11 October 2022 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2022 on account of overfishing in the previous years (OJ L 265, 12.10.2022, p. 67).

(10)  Communication from the Commission on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and replacing Communication 2012/C 72/07 (2022/C 369/03) (OJ C 369, 27.9.2022, p. 3).

(11)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2458 of 14 December 2022 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2022 in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1926 (OJ L 321, 15.12.2022, p. 10).

(12)  Recommendation 21-01 by ICCAT replacing Recommendation 19-02 replacing Recommendation 16-01 on a multi-annual conservation and management programme for tropical tunas.

(13)  Recommendation 22-03 by ICCAT replacing supplemental recommendation 21-02 extending and amending Recommendation 17-02 for the conservation of North Atlantic swordfish




ANNEX

DEDUCTIONS FROM FISHING QUOTAS FOR THE YEAR 2023 FOR STOCKS WHICH HAVE BEEN OVERFISHED



















Mem-ber State


Species code


Area code


Species name


Area name


Initial quota 2022 (in tonnes)


Permitted landings 2022 (Total adapted quantity in tonnes) (1)



Total catches 2022 (quantity in tonnes)


Quota con-sumption related to permitted landings


Overfishing related to permitted landing (quantity in tonnes)


Multi-plying factor (2)



Addit-ional Multi-plying factor (3)
 (4)



Out-standing deductions from previous year(s) (5) (quantity in tonnes)


Deductions to apply in 2023 (quantity in tonnes)





BE



SRX


07D.


Skates and rays


7d


134,000 


136,500 


137,765 


100,93  %


1,265 


/


/


/


1,265 





BE



SRX


67AKXD


Skates and rays


United Kingdom and Union waters of 6a, 6b, 7a-c and 7e-k


814,000 


1 207,000 


1 209,702 


100,22  %


2,702 


/


/


/


2,702 





DE



HER


4AB.


Herring


Union, United Kingdom and Norwegian waters of 4 north of 53° 30′ N


41 147,000 


37 114,880 


38 224,556 


102,99  %


1 109,676 


/


A (6)



/


1 109,676 





DE



OTH


1N2AB.


Other species


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


71,000 


72,800 


92,797 


127,47  %


19,997 


1,00 


/


/


19,997 





DK



COD


03AN.


Cod


Skagerrak


1 515,000 


1 503,751 


1 521,783 


101,20  %


18,032 


/


C (6)



/


18,032 





DK



COD


2A3AX4


Cod


4; United Kingdom waters of 2a; the part of 3a not covered by the Skagerrak and Kattegat


1 951,000 


1 980,700 


2 018,970 


101,93  %


38,270 


/


C (6)



/


38,270 





DK



HAD


03A.


Haddock


3a


2 225,000 


2 508,851 


2 735,449 


109,03  %


226,598 


/


C (6)



/


226,598 





DK



HER


5B6ANB


Herring


6b and 6aN; United Kingdom and international waters of 5b


/


/


8,077 


N/A


8,077 


1,00 


/


 


8,077 





DK



OTH


1N2AB.


Other species


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


/


2,038 


N/A


2,038 


1,00 


/


/


2,038 





DK



POK


1N2AB.


Saithe


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


/


17,317 


N/A


17,317 


1,00 


/


/


17,317 





DK



PRA


4N-S62


Northern prawn


Norwegian waters south of 62°N


200,000 


203,000 


205,041 


101,01  %


2,041 


/


/


/


2,041 





DK



SPR


03A.


Sprat and associated by-catches


3a


8 422,000 


20,186 


34,428 


170,55  %


14,242 


1,00 


/


/


14,242 





DK



WHB


1X14


Blue whiting


United Kingdom, Union and international waters of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8d, 8e, 12 and 14


36 723,000 


45 035,026 


45 516,979 


101,07  %


481,953 


/


/


/


481,953 





ES



ALF


3X14-


Alfonsinos


United Kingdom, Union and international waters of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14


51,000 


58,000 


59,069 


101,84  %


1,069 


/


/


/


1,069 





ES



COD


1/2B.


Cod


1 and 2b


9 688,000 


9 290,212 


9 409,547 


101,28  %


119,335 


/


A (6)



/


119,335 





ES



COD


1N2AB.


Cod


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


2 602,000 


2 744,006 


2 804,069 


102,19  %


60,063 


/


/


/


60,063 





ES



GHL


1N2AB.


Greenland halibut


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


32,719 


55,066 


168,30  %


22,347 


1,00 


A


/


33,521 





ES



HAD


1N2AB.


Haddock


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


0,554 


17,963 


3 242,42  %


17,409 


1,00 


/


/


17,409 





ES



OTH


1N2AB.


Other species


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


/


35,447 


N/A


35,447 


1,00 


A


/


53,171 





ES



POL


08C.


Pollack


8c


149,000 


172,001 


173,627 


100,95  %


1,626 


/


/


/


1,626 





ES



POK


1N2AB.


Saithe


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


17,250 


25,413 


147,32  %


8,163 


1,00 


/


/


8,163 





ES



REB


1N2AB.


Redfish


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


106,000 


103,211 


104,593 


101,34  %


1,382 


/


/


/


1,382 





ES



RJU


9-C.


Undulate ray


Union waters of 9


15,000 


18,000 


19,348 


107,49  %


1,348 


/


/


/


1,348 





FR



JAX


4BC7D


Horse mackerel and associated by-catches


United Kingdom and Union waters of 4b, 4c and 7d


267,000 


396,532 


461,312 


116,34  %


64,780 


1,00 


/


/


64,780 





FR



RJE


7FG.


Small-eyed ray


7f and 7g


36,000 


57,000 


83,299 


146,14  %


26,299 


1,00 


/


/


26,299 





FR



RJU


8-C.


Undulate ray


Union waters of 8


13,000 


23,000 


24,081 


104,70  %


1,081 


/


/


/


1,081 





IE



HER


6AS7BC


Herring


6aS, 7b, 7c


1 236,000 


1 267,563 


1 298,400 


102,43  %


30,837 


/


/


/


30,837 





IE



POK


1N2AB.


Saithe


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


28,810 


51,017 


177,08  %


22,207 


1,00 


/


/


22,207 





MT



ALB


MED


Mediterranean albacore


Mediterranean Sea


41,190 


41,190 


49,876 


121,09  %


8,686 


1,00 


/


/


8,686 





NL



POK


1N2AB.


Saithe


Norwegian waters of 1 and 2


/


4,000 


47,097 


1 177,43  %


43,097 


1,00 


/


/


43,097 





PL



MAC


2A34.


Mackerel


3a; United Kingdom and Union waters of 2a, 3b, 3c, 3d and 4


/


/


10,934 


N/A


10,934 


1,00 


/


/


10,934 





PT



ALF


3X14-


Alfonsinos


Union and international waters of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14


145,000 


142,314 


145,155 


102,00  %


2,841 


/


A (6)



/


2,841 





PT



RJU


9-C.


Undulate ray


Union waters of 9


15,000 


32,000 


33,907 


105,96  %


1,907 


/


/


/


1,907 





SE



I/F


04-N


Industrial fish


Norwegian waters of 4


800,000 


800,000 


808,349 


101,04  %


8,349 


/


/


/


8,349 






(1)  Quotas available to a Member State pursuant to the relevant fishing opportunities Regulations after taking into account exchanges of fishing opportunities in accordance with Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22), quota transfers from 2021 to 2022 in accordance with Article 4(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas (OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3) and with Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 or reallocation and deduction of fishing opportunities in accordance with Articles 37 and 105 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

(2)  As set out in Article 105(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. Deduction equal to the overfishing * 1,00 shall apply in all cases of overfishing equal to, or less than, 100 tonnes.

(3)  As set out in Article 105(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and provided that the extent of overfishing exceeds 10 %.

(4)  Letter ‘A’ indicates that an additional multiplying factor of 1,5 has been applied due to consecutive overfishing in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Letter ‘C’ indicates that an additional multiplying factor of 1,5 has been applied as the stock is subject to a multiannual plan.

(5)  Remaining quantities from previous year(s).

(6)  Additional multiplying factor not applicable because the overfishing does not exceed 10 % of the permitted landings.