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 Community 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 95 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Implementing Decision 2012/807/EU(2) establishes a specific control and inspection programme for pelagic fisheries in Western Waters of the North East Atlantic.
(2) Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3) establishes a landing obligation for pelagic fisheries in order to reduce the current high levels of unwanted catches and to gradually eliminate discards. Details for the implementation of the landing obligation are laid down in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014(4) establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in north-western waters and in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1394/2014(5) establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in south-western waters. Compliance with the landing obligation should be controlled and inspected. The small pelagic species named in Article 15(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 should therefore be included in the specific control and inspection programme in order to enable Member States concerned to undertake efficiently and effectively joint inspection and surveillance activities.
(3) Mackerel and herring are widely distributed migratory species. In order to harmonise the control and inspection procedures for mackerel and herring fisheries in the waters adjacent to Western Waters, it is appropriate to include ICES division IVa as defined in Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council(6) in the specific control and inspection programme.
(4) It is appropriate to maintain the specific control and inspection programme till 31 December 2018 to ensure a level playing field during the introduction of the landing obligation.
(5) Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98(7) and in particular Title IIIa thereof establishes measures to reduce discarding. The specific control and inspection programme should ensure compliance with the prohibition of highgrading, the moving-on provisions and the prohibition on slipping.
(6) Pursuant to Commission Implementing Decisions 2013/305/EU(8) and 2013/328/EU(9) establishing a specific control and inspection programme for the Baltic Sea and the North Sea respectively Member States inform the Commission on an annual basis. The reporting concerning the specific control and inspection programme for pelagic fisheries in Western Waters should be done with the same frequency.
(7) During the Consultations between Norway, the Union and the Faroe Islands on the Management of Mackerel for 2015, the benchmarks for the inspection of landings of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel have been reduced significantly because from now on this is based on risk assessment, and their application has been extended to landings of blue whiting. The target benchmarks in Annex II of Implementing Decision 2012/807/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.
(8) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Commission Implementing Decision 2012/807/EU of 19 December 2012 establishing a specific control and inspection programme for pelagic fisheries in Western Waters of the North East Atlantic (OJ L 350, 20.12.2012, p. 99).
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).
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in north-western waters (OJ L 370, 30.12.2014, p. 25).
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1394/2014 of 20 October 2014 establishing a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in south-western waters (OJ L 370, 30.12.2014, p. 31).
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 Atlantic (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 70).
Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms (OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p. 1).
Commission Implementing Decision 2013/305/EU of 21 June 2013 establishing a specific control and inspection programme for fisheries exploiting cod, herring, salmon and sprat in the Baltic Sea (OJ L 170, 22.6.2013, p. 66).
Commission Implementing Decision 2013/328/EU of 25 June 2013 establishing a specific control and inspection programme for fisheries exploiting cod, plaice and sole in the Kattegat, the North Sea, the Skagerrak, the eastern Channel, the waters west of Scotland and the Irish Sea (OJ L 175, 27.6.2013, p. 61).