Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2462 of 22 August 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council by specifying details of the landing obligation for certain demersal stocks in the western Mediterranean Sea

Article 1

Implementation of the landing obligation

The landing obligation provided for in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 shall apply in Union waters of the Western Mediterranean Sea to demersal fisheries in accordance with this Regulation.

Article 2

Definitions

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

(1) ‘GFCM Geographical Sub-Areas’ (‘GSAs’) means General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (‘GFCM’) Geographical Sub-Areas as defined in the Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1343/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹);

(2) ‘Western Mediterranean Sea’ means GFCM Geographical Sub-Areas 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11.1, 11.2 and 12.

Article 3

Survivability exemptions

The exemption from the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15(4), point (b) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 for species for which scientific evidence demonstrates high survival rates, in the western Mediterranean Sea, shall apply to:

(a) scallop (Pecten jacobaeaus) caught with mechanised dredges (HMD);

(b) carpet clams (Veneupis spp.) caught with mechanised dredges (HMD);

(c) red sea bream (Pagellus bogaraveo) caught with hooks and lines (LHP, LHM, LLS, LLD, LL, LTL, LX);

(d) lobster (Homarus gammarus) caught with nets (GNS, GN, GND, GNC, GTN, GTR, GEN) and with pots and traps (FPO, FIX);

(e) crawfish (Palinuridae) caught with nets (GNS, GN, GND, GNC, GTN, GTR, GEN) and with pots and traps (FPO, FIX);

(f) Venus shells (Venus spp.) caught with mechanised dredges (HMD);

(g) Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught with all bottom trawls (OTB, OTT, PTB, TBN, TBS, TB, OT, PT, TX), from January to June and September to December;

(h) Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) caught with pots and traps (FPO, FIX).

Article 4

De minimis exemption

By way of derogation from Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the following quantities of species may be discarded pursuant to Article 15(4), point (c) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013:

(a) for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and mullets (Mullus spp.) up to a maximum of 5 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using bottom trawls;

(b) for hake (Merluccius merluccius) and mullets (Mullus spp.) up to a maximum of 1 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using gillnets and trammel nets;

(c) for European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), annular seabream (Diplodus annularis), sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo), white seabream (Diplodus sargus), two-banded seabream (Diplodus vulgaris), groupers (Epinephelus spp.), striped seabream (Lithognathus mormyrus), Spanish seabream (Pagellus acarne), red seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo), common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus), common seabream (Pagrus pagrus), wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), common sole (Solea solea), gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and deep-water rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) up to a maximum of 5 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using bottom trawls;

(d) for European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), annular seabream (Diplodus annularis), sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo), white seabream (Diplodus sargus), two-banded seabream (Diplodus vulgaris), groupers (Epinephelus spp.), striped seabream (Lithognathus mormyrus), Spanish seabream (Pagellus acarne), red seabream (Pagellus bogaraveo), common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus), common seabream (Pagrus pagrus), wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), common sole (Solea solea) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) up to a maximum of 3 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using gillnets and trammels nets; and

(e) for European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax), annular seabream (Diplodus annularis), sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo), white seabream (Diplodus sargus), two-banded seabream (Diplodus vulgaris), groupers (Epinephelus spp.), striped seabream (Lithognathus mormyrus), Spanish seabream (Pagellus acarne), common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus), common seabream (Pagrus pagrus), wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), common sole (Solea solea) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) up to a maximum of 1 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using hooks and lines; and

(f) for deep-water shrimps (blue and red shrimps (Aristeus antennatus) and giant red shrimps (Aristaeomorpha foliacea)), up to a maximum of 1 % of the total annual catches of those species caught by vessels using bottom trawls (OTB, OTT, PTB, TBN, TBS, TB, OT, PT, TX).

Article 5

Entry into force and application

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2027.

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