L 28/2
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
31.1.2023
(5)
Fishing opportunities for stocks covered by the landing obligation should take account of the fact that discarding is in principle no longer allowed.
Therefore, they should be based on the advice figure for total catches (rather than that for landings or rather wanted catches) as provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
The quantities that, by way of exemption from the landing obligation, may continue to be discarded should be deducted from that advice figure for total catches.
(6)
There are certain stocks for which ICES advises zero catches.
However, if TACs for those stocks are established at the advised level, the obligation to land all catches, including by-catches from those stocks in mixed fisheries, would give rise to the phenomenon of ‘choke species’.
In order to strike a balance between maintaining fisheries, in view of the potentially severe socioeconomic implications of failing to do so, and the need to achieve a good biological status for those stocks, taking account of the difficulty of fishing all stocks in a mixed fishery at maximum sustainable yield (MSY), it is appropriate to establish specific TACs for by-catches for those stocks.
Those TACs should be set at levels that ensure that the mortality for those stocks is decreased and that provide incentives to improve selectivity and to avoid by-catches of those stocks.
In order to reduce catches of the stocks for which by-catch TACs are set, fishing opportunities for the fisheries in which fish from those stocks are caught should be set at levels that help the biomass of vulnerable stocks to recover to sustainable levels.
Technical and control measures that are intrinsically linked to fishing opportunities should also be established to prevent illegal discarding.
(7)
In order to guarantee, to the extent possible, the use of fishing opportunities in mixed fisheries in accordance with Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, it is appropriate to establish a pool for quota exchanges for Member States that have no quota to cover their unavoidable by-catches.
(8)
The North Sea MAP was established by Regulation (EU) 2018/973 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) and entered into force in 2018.
The Western Waters MAP was established by Regulation (EU) 2019/472 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) and entered into force in 2019.
Fishing opportunities for stocks listed in Article 1(1) of those Regulations should be fixed in accordance with the range of fishing mortality values resulting in MSY (‘range of FMSY’) and the safeguards provided for in those Regulations.
The ranges of FMSY have been set out in the relevant ICES advice.
Where no adequate scientific information is available, fishing opportunities for by-catch stocks should be fixed in accordance with the precautionary approach, as set out in those Regulations.
(9)
In accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2018/973 and Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2019/472, where scientific advice indicates that the spawning stock biomass of any of the stocks referred to in Article 1(1) of that Regulation is below the limit biomass reference point (Blim) (4), further remedial measures are to be taken to ensure the rapid return of the stock to levels above those capable of producing MSY.
In particular, those remedial measures can include suspending the targeted fishery for the stock in question and the adequate reduction of fishing opportunities for those or other stocks in the fisheries.
(10)
The TACs for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).
(2) Regulation (EU) 2018/973 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 establishing a multiannual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, specifying details of the implementation of the landing obligation in the North Sea and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 676/2007 and (EC) No 1342/2008 (OJ L 179, 16.7.2018, p. 1).
(3) Regulation (EU) 2019/472 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a multiannual plan for stocks fished in the Western Waters and adjacent waters, and for fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 and (EU) 2018/973, and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007 and (EC) No 1300/2008 (OJ L 83, 25.3.2019, p. 1).
(4) Blim is the biomass below which there may be reduced reproductive capacity.
(5) Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2016 on a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 302/2009 (OJ L 252, 16.9.2016, p. 1).