Council Regulation (EU) 2018/2025 of 17 December 2018 fixing for 2019 and 2020 the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation fixes for the years 2019 and 2020 the annual fishing opportunities available to Union fishing vessels for fish stocks of certain deep-sea species in Union waters and in certain non-Union waters where catch limits are required.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 shall apply. In addition, the following definitions apply:

(a) ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means: (i) in fisheries subject to the exemption of the landing obligation referred to in Article 15(4) to (7) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the quantity of fish that can be landed from each stock each year; (ii) in all other fisheries, the quantity of fish that can be caught from each stock each year;

(b) ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union or a Member State;

(c) ‘international waters’ means waters falling outside the sovereignty or jurisdiction of any State;

(d) ‘analytical assessment’ means quantitative evaluations of trends in a given stock, based on data about the stock's biology and exploitation, which scientific review has indicated to be of sufficient quality to provide scientific advice on options for future catches.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following zone definitions shall apply:

(a) ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(b) CECAF (Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²).

Article 3

TACs and allocations

The TACs for deep-sea species caught by Union fishing vessels in Union waters or in certain non-Union waters, the allocation of such TACs among Member States and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in the Annex.

Article 4

TACs to be determined by Member States

The TAC to be determined by Portugal shall:

(a) be consistent with the principles and rules of the common fisheries policy, in particular the principle of the sustainable exploitation of the stock; and

(b) result: (i) if an analytical assessment is available, in the exploitation of the stock consistent with maximum sustainable yield from 2019 onwards, with as high a probability as possible; or (ii) if an analytical assessment is unavailable or incomplete, in the exploitation of the stock consistent with the precautionary approach to fisheries management.

By 15 March in each year of the application of this Regulation, Portugal shall submit the following information to the Commission:

(a) the TAC adopted;

(b) the data collected and assessed by Portugal on which the TAC adopted is based;

(c) details on how the TAC adopted complies with paragraph 2.

Article 5

Special provisions on the allocation of fishing opportunities

The allocation of fishing opportunities among Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to:

(a) exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(b) deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (³);

(c) reallocations made pursuant to Article 12(7) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴);

(d) additional landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 and 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(e) quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 and Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(f) deductions made pursuant to Articles 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Article 6

Conditions for landing catches and bycatches

Catches that are not subject to the landing obligation established in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 shall be retained on board or landed only if they:

(a) have been taken by vessels flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota has not been exhausted; or

(b) consist of a share in a Union quota which has not been allocated by quota among Member States, and that Union quota has not been exhausted.

Article 7

Prohibition

Article 8

Data transmission

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States submit to the Commission data relating to landings of quantities of stocks caught, they shall use the stock codes set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 9

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the date following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2019.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX

The references to fishing zones are references to ICES zones, unless otherwise specified.

PART 1

Definition of species and species groups

1.In the list set out in Part 2 of this Annex, fish stocks are referred to following the alphabetical order of the Latin names of the species. However, the deep-sea sharks are placed at the beginning of that list. For the purposes of this Regulation, the following comparative table of common names and Latin names is provided:

2.For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘deep-sea sharks’ means the following list of species:

PART 2

Annual fishing opportunities (in tonnes live weight)