PURPOSE: to establish a multi-annual plan for small
pelagic stocks in the Adriatic Sea and the fisheries exploiting
those stocks.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European
Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative
procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: the common fisheries policy (CFP) seeks to
ensure that fishing and aquaculture activities are environmentally
sustainable in the long term, to apply the precautionary approach
to fisheries management, and to implement the ecosystem-based
approach to fisheries management.
Scientific advice from the Scientific, Technical and
Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and from the General
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterraneans Scientific
Advisory Committee (GFCM SAC) has indicated that the
exploitation of anchovy and sardine stocks in the Adriatic Sea
exceeds the levels required to achieve the maximum sustainable
yield (MSY). The vast majority are being caught by Italy and
Croatia, in the northern part of the Adriatic.
Currently, small pelagic fisheries in the Adriatic Sea
are governed by several legal frameworks, at national, EU and
international level. This proposal addresses the problem of
overexploitation of small pelagic stocks due to an
unsustainable fishery and ineffective governance.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the preferred option was the one
which called for an EU Regulation to manage small pelagic
fisheries. This option should lead to an improved conservation
status of anchovy and sardine, which would ultimately result in a
healthier and more sustainable fishing sector dependent on this
resource, with better salaries for individual fishers and greater
profitability overall compared to the status quo.
CONTENT: the proposed plan seeks to replenish
stocks such as sardines, anchovies, mackerel and horse mackerel
and contribute to their sustainable use, as well as to establish a
simpler and more comprehensive management framework. The plan
should:
- facilitate the introduction of the landing
obligation by providing a basis for
derogations in certain circumscribed situations;
- enable regionalisation to be used, whereby
Member States around sea basins are involved in the conception and
design of management rules for the interested parties.
The multiannual-plan will apply to all EU fishing
vessels irrespective of their overall participation in fishing in
the Adriatic Sea (in EU and international waters). It shall
include:
- target fishing mortalities expressed in ranges for each of the stocks, where
available, which would be the basis for setting annual catch limits
for those stocks;
- safeguard measures to
give a framework to restore stocks when they fall below safe
biological limits;
- control provisions are
provided on the vessel monitoring system, prior notification,
electronic logbooks and designated ports. Regarding electronic
logbooks and the vessel monitoring system, the provisions included
in Council
Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 are extended to cover all vessels
over eight metres in length, to improve control of the fisheries
covered by the multiannual plan.
The plan should be evaluated every five years on the
basis of scientific advice.