The objective of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), as set out in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council3, is to ensure that the exploitation of marine biological resources contributes to long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability.

The Union has, by means of Council Decision 98/392/EC4, approved the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which contains principles and rules with regard to the conservation and management of the living resources of the sea. In the framework of its wider international obligations, the Union participates in efforts made in international waters to conserve fish stocks.

Pursuant to Council Decision 2012/130/EU5, the Union has been a Contracting Party to the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean (‘the SPRFMO Convention’), which established the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (the SPRFMO), since 26 July 2010.

Within the SPRFMO, the Commission of the SPRFMO (‘the SPRFMO Commission’) is responsible for the adoption of measures designed to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources through the application of the precautionary approach to fisheries management and an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and, in so doing, to safeguard the marine ecosystems in which those resources occur. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.

It is necessary to ensure that the conservation and management measures adopted by the SPRFMO (‘SPRFMO conservation and management measures’) are fully transposed into Union law and are, therefore, uniformly and effectively implemented within the Union.

The SPRFMO has the authority to adopt conservation and management measures for the fisheries under its purview, which are binding on the Contracting Parties to the SPRFMO Convention (‘Contracting Parties’). Those measures are primarily addressed to the Contracting Parties and provide for obligations for operators such as vessel masters.

This Regulation should not cover the fishing opportunities decided by the SPRFMO, as those fishing opportunities are allocated in the framework of the annual Regulation on fishing opportunities adopted pursuant to Article 43(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

When implementing the SPRFMO conservation and management measures, the Union and Member States should endeavour to promote the use of fishing gear and techniques which are selective and which have a reduced environmental impact.

In order to swiftly incorporate into Union law future binding amendments to the SPRFMO conservation and management measures, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of amending the Annexes to and the relevant Articles of this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making6. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

To ensure compliance with the CFP, Union legislation has been adopted to establish a system of control, inspection and enforcement, which includes the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) activities.

In particular, Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/20097 establishes a Union system for control, inspection and enforcement with a global and integrated approach to ensure compliance with all the rules of the CFP, and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/20118 lays down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/20089 establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. Furthermore, Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council10 lays down rules for issuing and managing fishing authorisations for Union fishing vessels conducting fishing operations in waters under the auspices of a regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO) to which the Union is a contracting party. Those Regulations already implement a number of the provisions laid down in the SPRFMO conservation and management measures. It is therefore not necessary to include those provisions in this Regulation.

Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 introduced a landing obligation which applies from 1 January 2015 to fisheries for small and large pelagic species, fisheries for industrial purposes and fisheries for salmon in the Baltic Sea. However, under Article 15(2) of that Regulation, the landing obligation is without prejudice to the Union's international obligations, such as those resulting from the SPRFMO conservation and management measures,