Council Regulation (EU) No 683/2011Show full title

[X1 Council Regulation (EU) No 683/2011

of 20 June 2011

amending Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 as regards fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks]

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) Council Regulation (EU) No 57/2011(1) fixes for 2011 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in EU waters and, for EU vessels, in certain non-EU waters.

(2) Consultations on fishing opportunities between the Union and the Faroe Islands failed to result in an agreement for 2011. After a further round of consultations with Norway in March 2011, the fishing opportunities reserved for the consultations with the Faroe Islands can now be allocated to Member States. Therefore, Article 1 of Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 and the relevant TACs in Annexes IA and IB thereto should be amended in order to distribute the non-allocated quota and to reflect the traditional allocation of mackerel in the North-East Atlantic.

(3) It is desirable to implement flexible arrangements regarding the use of blue whiting quotas across the two main management areas provided for in Annex IA to Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 for that fishery (namely the area consisting of EU and international waters of ICES zones I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId, VIIIe, XII and XIV and the area consisting of ICES zones VIIIc, IX and X and EU waters of CECAF 34.1.1), since those two areas are subject to the same scientific advice and considered part of the same biological stock.

(4) Annex IA to Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 establishes general quotas for Norway lobster in ICES zone VII and specific quotas for Norway lobster in the area of the Porcupine Bank located within that zone. It is necessary to fix those specific quotas anew for the year 2011 on the basis of updated data on historic catches.

(5) Further to the consultations concluded on 17 March 2011 between coastal states (Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland) and other North East Atlantic Fisheries Convention (NEAFC) parties (Union and Norway) on the management of redfish in the Irminger Sea and adjacent waters, it is necessary to establish TACs for redfish in those areas while respecting the agreed time and area restrictions. Annex IB to Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 should be amended accordingly.

(6) At its Annual Meeting in 2010, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission decided to maintain the limits imposed for that year on swordfish catches and on the number of vessels authorised to fish for swordfish, with effect from 1 January 2011. It is necessary to implement those measures in Union law.

(7) During the Third International Meeting, held in May 2007, for the creation of a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) in the high seas of the South Pacific (SPRFMO), the participants accepted interim measures, including fishing opportunities, in order to regulate pelagic fishing activities as well as bottom fisheries in that area until the establishment of such RFMO. New interim measures have been accepted at the Second Preparatory Conference for the SPRFMO Commission, held in January 2011. Those interim measures are voluntary and not legally binding under international law. It is however appropriate, in accordance with the cooperation and conservation obligations enshrined in the International Law of the Sea, to implement those measures in Union law by establishing an overall quota for the Union. For the purpose of allocating the Union quota among the Member States, it is appropriate to establish a new and final allocation key on the basis of sound, fair and objective criteria of the past fishing performance of the Member States in 2009 and 2010 which is a recent and sufficiently representative period during which all Member States concerned were present on the fishing grounds.

(8) Annex IIB to Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 sets fishing effort limitations for the recovery of certain southern hake and Norway lobster stocks in ICES divisions VIIIc and IXa, excluding the Gulf of Cadiz. It is appropriate to clarify the wording of a special condition set out in the framework of those fishing effort limitations and the consequences of receiving an unlimited number of days for landings in the 2011 management period.

(9) Annex IIC to Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 sets fishing effort limitations for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2007 of 7 May 2007 establishing a multi-annual plan for the sustainable exploitation of the stock of sole in the Western Channel(2). It is necessary to align the wording of that Annex with the wording of Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 509/2007.

(10) Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 applies, in general, from 1 January 2011. However, the fishing effort limits are laid down for a 1-year period starting from 1 February 2011. In order to follow the year-to-year regime of reporting on fishing opportunities, the provisions of this Regulation concerning catch limits and allocations should apply from 1 January 2011 and the provisions concerning fishing effort limits should apply from 1 February 2011, except where indicated otherwise. Such retroactive application is without prejudice to the principle of legal certainty as the fishing opportunities concerned have not yet been exhausted. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Editorial Information

X1 Substituted by Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EU) No 683/2011 of 17 June 2011 amending Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 as regards fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks (Official Journal of the European Union L 187 of 16 July 2011).

(1)

OJ L 24, 27.1.2011, p. 1.

(2)

OJ L 122, 11.5.2007, p. 7.