Regulation (EU) 2023/2053 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 establishing a multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, amending Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EU) 2017/2107, and (EU) 2019/833 and repealing Regulation (EU) 2016/1627

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down general rules for the uniform and effective implementation by the Union of the multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (‘ICCAT’).

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation applies to:

(a) Union fishing vessels and Union vessels engaged in recreational fisheries which: (i) catch bluefin tuna in the Convention Area; and (ii) tranship or carry on board, including outside the Convention Area, bluefin tuna caught in the Convention Area;

(b) Union farms;

(c) third country fishing vessels and third country vessels engaged in recreational fisheries that operate in Union waters and catch bluefin tuna in the Convention Area;

(d) third country vessels which are inspected in Member State ports and which carry on board bluefin tuna caught in the Convention Area or fishery products originating from bluefin tuna caught in Union waters that have not been previously landed or transhipped at ports.

Article 3

Objective

The objective of this Regulation is to implement the multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna, as adopted by ICCAT, which aims to maintain a biomass of bluefin tuna above levels capable of producing MSY.

Article 4

Relationship with other Union acts

Unless otherwise stated in this Regulation, this Regulation applies without prejudice to other Union acts governing the fisheries sector, in particular:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(2) Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008;

(3) Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(4) Regulation (EU) 2017/2107;

(5) Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²).

Article 5

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘ICCAT’ means the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas;

(2) ‘SCRS’ means the Standing Committee on Research and Statistics of the ICCAT;

(3) ‘the Convention’ means the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas;

(4) ‘Convention Area’ means the geographical area, as set out in Article I of the Convention;

(5) ‘CPC’ means a Contracting Party to the Convention and a cooperating non-contracting party, entity or fishing entity;

(6) ‘operator’ means the natural or legal person who operates or holds any undertaking carrying out any of the activities related to any stage of production, processing, marketing, distribution and retail chains of fisheries and aquaculture products;

(7) ‘farm Member State’ or ‘Member State responsible for the farm’ means the Member State under whose jurisdiction the farm is located;

(8) ‘flag Member State’ means the Member State where the fishing vessel is flagged;

(9) ‘trap Member State’ or ‘Member State responsible for the trap’ means the Member States under whose jurisdiction the trap is located;

(10) ‘fishing vessel’ means any powered vessel used for the purposes of the commercial exploitation of bluefin tuna resources, including catching vessels, processing vessels, support vessels, towing vessels, vessels engaged in transhipment, transport vessels equipped for the transportation of tuna products and auxiliary vessels, except container vessels;

(11) ‘catching vessel’ means a vessel used for the purposes of the commercial capture of bluefin tuna resources;

(12) ‘towing vessel’ means any vessel used for towing live bluefin tuna cages;

(13) ‘processing vessel’ means a vessel on board of which fisheries products are subject to one or more of the following operations, prior to their packaging: filleting or slicing, freezing and/or processing;

(14) ‘support vessel’ means any fishing vessel, other than a catching vessel, processing vessel, towing vessel, vessel engaged in transhipment, transport vessel equipped for the transportation of tuna products or auxiliary vessel, authorised to operate in the bluefin tuna fishery to perform support tasks;

(15) ‘auxiliary vessel’ means any vessel used to transport dead bluefin tuna (not processed) from a transport or farming cage, a purse seine vessel or a trap to a designated port or to a processing vessel;

(16) ‘small-scale coastal vessel’ is a catching vessel with at least three of the five following characteristics: (a) length overall of less than 12 metres; (b) the vessel fishes exclusively inside the waters under jurisdiction of the flag Member State; (c) the duration of fishing trips is less than 24 hours; (d) the maximum number of crew members is established at four persons; (e) the vessel fishes using techniques which are selective and have a reduced environmental impact;

(17) ‘large-scale pelagic longline vessel’ means a pelagic longline vessel greater than 24 metres in length overall;

(18) ‘recreational fisheries’ means non-commercial fishing activities exploiting marine biological resources for recreation, tourism or sport;

(19) ‘purse seine’ means any encircling net the bottom of which is drawn together by means of a purse line at the bottom of the net, which passes through a series of rings along the ground rope, enabling the net to be pursed and closed;

(20) ‘joint fishing operation’ means any operation between two or more purse seine vessels where the catch of one purse seine vessel is attributed to one or more purse seine vessels in accordance with a previously agreed allocation key;

(21) ‘gear group’ means a group of fishing vessels using the same gear for which a group quota has been allocated;

(22) ‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel to measure the intensity of the fishing operations; that measurement varies from gear to gear: for longline fisheries it is measured in number of hooks or hooks-hours; for purse seine vessels it is measured in terms of boat days (fishing time and searching time);

(23) ‘fishing actively’ means, for any catching vessel, the fact that it targets bluefin tuna during a given fishing season;

(24) ‘BCD’ means a bluefin tuna catch document;

(25) ‘eBCD’ means an electronic bluefin tuna catch document;

(26) ‘transhipment’ means the unloading of all or any of the fisheries products on board a fishing vessel to another fishing vessel; however, unloading of dead bluefin tuna from the purse seine, the trap or the towing vessel to an auxiliary vessel is not considered as transhipment;

(27) ‘live bluefin tuna’ means bluefin tuna that is kept alive for a certain period in a trap, or transferred alive to a farming installation, caged, farmed and finally harvested or released;

(28) ‘harvesting’ means the killing of bluefin tuna in farms or traps;

(29) ‘trap’ means fixed gear anchored to the bottom, usually containing a guide net that leads bluefin tuna into an enclosure or series of enclosures where it is kept prior to harvesting or farming;

(30) ‘caging’ means the relocation of live bluefin tuna in farms and their subsequent feeding aiming to fatten and increase their total biomass;

(31) ‘control caging’ means a repetition of the caging operation being implemented at the request of the control authorities, for the purpose of verifying the number or the average weight of fish being caged;

(32) ‘farming’ or ‘fattening’ means caging of bluefin tuna in farms and subsequently feeding aiming to fatten and increase their total biomass;

(33) ‘farm’ means a marine area, in one or more locations all of which are clearly defined by geographical coordinates with a clear definition of longitude and latitude for each one of the points of the polygon, used for the fattening or farming of bluefin tuna caught by traps or purse seine vessels;

(34) ‘input farming capacity’ means the maximum amount of wild bluefin tuna in tonnes that a farm is allowed to cage during a fishing season;

(35) ‘transfer’ means any transfer of: (a) live bluefin tuna from the catching vessel’s net to the transport cage; (b) live bluefin tuna from the trap to the transport cage, independently of the presence of a towing vessel; (c) live bluefin tuna from the transport cage to another transport cage; (d) a cage containing live bluefin tuna from a towing vessel to another towing vessel; (e) live bluefin tuna between different cages in the same farm (intra-farm transfer); (f) live bluefin tuna from a farm cage to a transport cage;

(36) ‘control transfer’ means the repetition of any transfer being implemented at the request of control authorities;

(37) ‘inter-farm transfer’ means the relocation of live bluefin tuna from one farm to another farm composed of two phases, a transfer from the donor farm cage to a transport cage and a caging from the transport cage to the receiving farm cage;

(38) ‘first transfer’ means a transfer of live bluefin tuna from a purse seine or a trap to a transport cage;

(39) ‘further transfer’ means any transfer that is conducted after the first transfer and before caging at the farm of destination, such as splitting or merging of the contents of two transport cages, with the exception of voluntary or control transfers;

(40) ‘voluntary transfer’ means the repetition of any transfer being voluntarily implemented by the donor operator;

(41) ‘control camera’ means a stereoscopic camera or conventional video camera for the purpose of the controls pursuant to this Regulation;

(42) ‘stereoscopic camera’ means a camera with two or more lenses, with a separate image sensor or film frame for each lens, enabling the taking of three-dimensional images for the purpose of measuring the length of the fish;

(43) ‘donor operator’ means the master, or the master’s representative, of the catching or towing vessel, or the operator, or the operator’s representative, of the farm or trap, from which, except in the case of voluntary and control transfers, a transfer operation originates;

(44) ‘Member State of the donor operator’ means the Member State that exercises its jurisdiction over the donor operator.

CHAPTER II

Management measures

Article 6

Conditions associated with fisheries management measures

Article 7

Carry-over of non-harvested live bluefin tuna

If a carry-over is permitted in accordance with paragraph 1, the following points shall apply:

(a) by 25 May of each year, Member States responsible for farms shall complete and submit to the Commission an annual carry-over declaration which shall include: (i) quantities (expressed in kg) and number of fish intended to be carried over; (ii) catch year; (iii) average weight; (iv) flag Member State or CPC; (v) references of the BCD corresponding to the catches carried over; (vi) name and ICCAT number of the farm; (vii) cage number; and (viii) information on harvested quantities (expressed in kg), when completed;

(b) the quantities carried over pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be placed in separate cages or in separate series of cages in the farm on the basis of the catch year.

Article 8

Carry-over of unused quotas

Article 9

Quota transfers

Article 10

Quota deductions in the event of overfishing

If Member States overfish the quotas allocated to them and the situation cannot be remedied by quota exchanges pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Articles 37 and 105 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall apply.

Article 11

Annual fishing plans

Each Member State with a bluefin tuna quota shall establish an annual fishing plan. That plan shall include, at least, the following information for the catching vessels and traps:

(a) the quotas allocated to each gear group, including by-catch quotas;

(b) where applicable, the method used to allocate and manage quotas;

(c) the measures to ensure the respect of individual quotas;

(d) open fishing seasons for each gear category;

(e) information on designated ports;

(f) the rules on by-catch; and

(g) the number of catching vessels, other than bottom trawlers, above 24 metres in length overall and purse seine vessels that are authorised to operate for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Article 12

Allocation of fishing opportunities

In accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, when allocating the fishing opportunities available to them, Member States shall use transparent and objective criteria, including those of an environmental, social and economic nature, and shall also endeavour to distribute national quotas fairly among the various fleet segments, giving special consideration to traditional and artisanal fisheries, and to provide incentives to Union fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact.

Article 13

Annual fishing capacity management plans

Article 14

Annual monitoring, control and inspection plan

Each Member State with a bluefin tuna quota shall establish an annual monitoring, control and inspection plan with the view to ensuring compliance with this Regulation. Each Member State shall submit its respective plan to the Commission. Each Member State shall establish its plan in accordance with:

(a) the objectives, priorities and procedures as well as benchmarks for inspection activities set out in the specific control and inspection programme for bluefin tuna established under Article 95 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

(b) the national control action programme for bluefin tuna established under Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 until 31 December 2025, and, after that date, in accordance with the national control programme established under Article 93a of that Regulation.

Article 15

Annual farming management plans

Article 16

Transmission of annual plans

By 31 January of each year, each Member State with a bluefin tuna quota shall submit the following plans to the Commission:

(a) the annual fishing plan for the catching vessels and traps fishing bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, established in accordance with Article 11;

(b) the annual fishing capacity management plan established in accordance with Article 13;

(c) the annual monitoring, control and inspection plan established in accordance with Article 14; and

(d) the annual farming management plan established in accordance with Article 15.

CHAPTER III

Technical measures

Article 17

Fishing seasons

Article 18

Landing obligation

This Chapter shall be without prejudice to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, including any applicable derogations thereto.

Article 19

Minimum conservation reference size

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a minimum conservation reference size for bluefin tuna of 8 kg or 75 cm fork length shall apply to the following fisheries:

(a) bluefin tuna caught in the eastern Atlantic by baitboats and trolling boats;

(b) bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean by the small-scale costal fleet fishery for fresh fish by baitboats, longliners and handliners; and

(c) bluefin tuna caught in the Adriatic Sea by vessels flying the flag of Croatia for farming purposes.

Article 20

Incidental catches below the minimum conservation reference size

Article 21

By-catches

Article 21a

Prohibition of retention of bluefin tuna on board support vessels

Support vessels shall not retain on board or transport bluefin tuna.

Article 22

Use of aerial means

It shall be prohibited to use any aerial means, including aircraft, helicopters or any types of unmanned aerial vehicles to search for bluefin tuna.

CHAPTER IV

Recreational fisheries

Article 23

Specific quota for recreational fisheries

Article 24

Specific conditions for recreational fisheries

Member States with a bluefin tuna quota allocated to recreational fisheries shall regulate those fisheries by issuing fishing authorisations to vessels for the purpose of recreational fisheries. Upon request by ICCAT, Member States shall make available to the Commission the list of those vessels which have been granted a fishing authorisation for bluefin tuna. The Commission shall transmit that list electronically to ICCAT. The list shall contain the following information for each vessel:

(a) name of vessel;

(b) register number;

(c) ICCAT record number (if any);

(d) previous name (if any);

(e) names and addresses of owners and operators.

Article 25

Catch, tag and release

Member States authorising ‘catch, tag and release’ activities, shall:

(a) submit description of those activities and the measures applicable thereto as an integral part of their fishing and inspection plans referred to in Articles 12 and 15;

(b) closely monitor the activities of the vessels concerned to ensure their compliance with this Regulation;

(c) ensure that the tagging and releasing operations are performed by trained personnel to ensure a high survival rate of the individuals; and

(d) submit an annual report to the Commission, by 30 June each year, on the scientific activities conducted. The Commission shall forward the report to the ICCAT Secretariat 60 days before the SCRS meeting of the following year.

CHAPTER V

Control measures

Section 1

Lists and records of vessels and traps

Article 26

Lists and records of vessels

Each year, 1 month before the start of the period of fishing authorisation, Member States shall submit to the Commission the following vessel lists:

(a) a list of all catching vessels fishing actively for bluefin tuna; and

(b) a list of all other vessels engaged in bluefin tuna-related activities, other than catching vessels.

Each vessel list shall include the following information:

(a) name and registry number of the vessel;

(b) specification of the type of vessel differentiating at least between catching vessels, towing vessels, auxiliary vessels, support vessels and processing vessels;

(c) length and gross registered tonnage (GRT) or, where possible, gross tonnage (GT);

(d) IMO number (where applicable);

(e) gear used (if any);

(f) previous flag (if any);

(g) previous name (if any);

(h) any previous details of deletion from other registers;

(i) international radio call sign (if any);

(j) name and addresses of owners and operators; and

(k) time period authorised for fishing, operating and transporting bluefin tuna for farming.