Council Regulation (EU) 2021/91 of 28 January 2021 fixing, for the years 2021 and 2022, the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks

COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2021/91

of 28 January 2021

fixing, for the years 2021 and 2022, the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation fixes, for the years 2021 and 2022, 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 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 may be landed from each stock each year;
• (ii) in all other fisheries, the quantity of fish that may 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;

• (e) ‘International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) zones’ means the geographical areas specified in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0001]);

• (f) ‘Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) areas’ means the geographical areas specified in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0002]);

• (g) ‘deep-sea sharks’ means the species listed in point 2 of Part 1 of the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 3

TACs and allocations

Article 4

Fishing vessels flying the flag of the United Kingdom, registered in the United Kingdom and licensed by a fisheries administration of the United Kingdom

Fishing vessels flying the flag of the United Kingdom, registered in the United Kingdom and licensed by a fisheries administration of the United Kingdom may be authorised to fish in Union waters within the TACs set out in the Annex to this Regulation, and shall be subject to the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/2403.

Article 5

TACs to be determined by Member States

• (a) be consistent with the principles and rules of the CFP, in particular the principle of sustainable exploitation of the stock; and

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

• (a) the adopted TAC;

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

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

Article 6

Special provisions on the allocation of fishing opportunities

• (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 ([^E0004]);

• (c) reallocations made pursuant to Article 12(7) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2403;

• (d) additional landings allowed pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 and Article 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 7

Conditions for landing catches and by-catches

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 9

Prohibition

The following shall be prohibited for Union fishing vessels:

• (a) to fish for orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) in Union and international waters of ICES subareas 1 to 10, 12 and 14, and to retain on board, tranship or land orange roughy caught in those subareas;

• (b) to fish for deep-sea sharks in ICES subareas 5 to 9, in Union and international waters of ICES subarea 10, in international waters of ICES subarea 12 and in Union waters of CECAF areas 34.1.1, 34.1.2 and 34.2, and to retain on board, tranship, relocate or land deep-sea sharks caught in those areas.

Article 10

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 11

Entry into force

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

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

ANNEX

PART 1

Comparative table of common and scientific names and definition

• 1.For the purposes of this Regulation, the following comparative table of common and scientific names of the species applies:

• 2.For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘deep-sea sharks’ mean the following:

PART 2

Annual fishing opportunities (in tonnes live weight)

Unless otherwise specified, the fishing zones referred to in this Part shall be the ICES zones.

In the list set out in this Part, fish stocks are referred to following the alphabetical order of the scientific names of the species.

Exclusively for by-catches. No directed fisheries are permitted under this quota. Catches to be counted against this shared quota shall be reported separately (BSF/56712_AMS).

Established at the same quantity as for Portugal.

Exclusively for by-catches. No directed fisheries are permitted under this quota.

No directed fisheries for roundnose grenadier are permitted in 3a.

No directed fisheries of roughhead grenadier are permitted. By-catches of roughhead grenadier (RHG/03-) shall be counted against this quota. They shall not exceed 1 % of the quota.

A maximum of 10 % of each quota may be fished in Union and international waters of 8, 9, 10, 12 and 14 (RNG/8X14- for roundnose grenadier; RHG/8X14- for roughhead grenadier by-catches).

No directed fisheries of roughhead grenadier are permitted. By-catches of roughhead grenadier (RHG/5B67-) shall be counted against this quota. They may not exceed 1% of the quota.

Exclusively for by-catches. No directed fisheries are permitted. Catches to be counted against this shared quota shall be reported separately (RNG/5B67_AMS for roundnose grenadier; RHG/5B67_AMS for roughhead grenadier).

A maximum of 10 % of each quota may be fished in 6 and 7; United Kingdom and international waters of 5b (RNG/5B67- for roundnose grenadier; RHG/5B67- for roughhead grenadier by-catches).

No directed fisheries of roughhead grenadier are permitted.

By-catches of roughhead grenadier (RHG/8X14-) shall be counted against this quota. They may not exceed 1% of the quota.

Exclusively for by-catches. No directed fisheries are permitted under this quota.

Catches to be counted against this shared quota shall be reported separately (SBR/678_AMS).

[^E0001]: Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 70).

[^E0002]: Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in certain areas other than those of the North Atlantic (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 1).

[^E0003]: Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 (OJ L 347, 28.12.2017, p. 81).

[^E0004]: Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1).