THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999, and in particular Article 30 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 lays down procedures for the identification of fishing vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (‘IUU’) as well as procedures for establishing a Union list of such vessels (‘the Union list’). Article 37 of that Regulation provides for actions to be taken against fishing vessels included in that list.
(2)
The Union list was established by Commission Regulation (EU) No 468/2010 and subsequently amended by Implementing Regulations (EU) No 724/2011, (EU) No 1234/2012, (EU) No 672/2013, (EU) No 137/2014, (EU) 2015/1296 and (EU) 2016/1852.
(3)
According to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, vessels included in the IUU vessel lists adopted by regional fisheries management organisations are to be included in the Union list.
(4)
All regional fishery management organisations provide for the establishment and regular update of IUU vessel lists in accordance with their respective rules.
(5)
According to Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008, upon the receipt from regional fisheries management organisations of the lists of fishing vessels presumed or confirmed to be involved in IUU fishing, the Commission is to update the Union list. Since the Commission has received new lists from the regional fisheries management organisations, the Union list should now be updated.
(6)
Considering that the same vessel might be listed under different names and/or flags depending on the time of its inclusion on the regional fisheries management organisations' lists, the updated Union list should include the different names and/or flags as established by the relevant regional fisheries management organisations.
(7)
The vessel ‘Viking’, which is currently included in the Union list, has been removed from the list established by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (‘CCAMLR’), since it had been sunk by the Indonesian authorities on 14 March 2016. That vessel should thus be removed from the Union list despite the fact that it has not yet been deleted from the list established by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (‘GFCM’).
(8)
Regulation (EU) No 468/2010 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(9)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: