Article 43(3) of the Treaty provides that the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, is to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities.

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council1 requires that conservation measures be adopted taking into account available scientific, technical and economic advice, including, where relevant, reports drawn up by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and other advisory bodies, as well as in the light of any advice received from Advisory Councils.

It is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities by fishery or group of fisheries in the Black Sea, including certain conditions functionally linked thereto, as appropriate. In accordance with Article 16(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, fishing opportunities should be fixed in accordance with the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy established in Article 2(2) of that Regulation. In accordance with Article 16(1) of that Regulation, fishing opportunities should be allocated to Member States in such a way as to ensure the relative stability of fishing activities of each Member State for each stock or fishery.

The total allowable catches (TACs) should therefore be established, in line with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, on the basis of the available scientific advice, taking into account biological and socioeconomic aspects whilst ensuring fair treatment between fishing sectors, as well as in the light of the opinions expressed during the consultation with stakeholders.

For sprat fisheries, the landing obligation referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 applies from 1 January 2015. Article 16(2) of that Regulation provides that when a landing obligation in respect of a fish stock is introduced, fishing opportunities are to be fixed taking into account the change from fixing fishing opportunities that reflect landings to fixing fishing opportunities that reflect catches.

The use of fishing opportunities set out in this Regulation is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/20092 and in particular to Articles 33 and 34 of that Regulation concerning the recording of catches and the notification of data on the exhaustion of fishing opportunities. It is therefore necessary to specify the codes to be used by the Member States when sending data to the Commission relating to landings of stocks subject to this Regulation.

In accordance with Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/963, when fixing the TACs, the Council is to decide to which stocks Articles 3 and 4 do not apply, in particular on the basis of the biological status of the stocks.

In order to avoid interruption of fishing activities and to ensure the livelihood of the fishermen of the Union, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2015. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication,