Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/3000 of 19 July 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards a derogation from restrictions on fishing for sprat in ICES division 4b

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the conservation of fisheries resources and the protection of marine ecosystems through technical measures, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1967/2006, (EC) No 1224/2009 and Regulations (EU) No 1380/2013, (EU) 2016/1139, (EU) 2018/973, (EU) 2019/472 and (EU) 2019/1022 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 894/97, (EC) No 850/98, (EC) No 2549/2000, (EC) No 254/2002, (EC) No 812/2004 and (EC) No 2187/2005 ¹, and in particular Article 15(2) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 provides for technical measures for the North Sea. Point 4 of Part C of that Annex sets out restrictions on fishing for sprat, in order to protect herring in ICES division 4b (‘sprat box’).

• (2) These restrictions concern the prohibition to use certain fishing gear during certain periods in an area along the Danish North Sea coast, as well as in two areas in waters of the United Kingdom. The restrictions relating to the area along the Danish coast were subject to a derogation established initially by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1393 ², renewed by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1160 ³, which expired on December 2023.

• (3) Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden (‘Scheveningen Group’) have a direct fisheries management interest in the region of the North Sea. On 26 February 2024, the Scheveningen Group submitted to the Commission a joint recommendation in accordance with Article 18(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁴ and Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241, proposing to amend Annex V of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241, by derogating from the restrictions on fishing for sprat in ICES division 4b. Subsequently, on 1 July 2024, the Scheveningen Group submitted to the Commission an updated joint recommendation.

• (4) The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) assessed the evidence presented by the Member States concerned. STECF concluded ⁵ that there is no indication that the derogation from the sprat box since 2017 has caused any detectable damage to the North Sea herring stock and that it is unlikely that such derogation would lead to lower levels of protection of the herring stock than those currently in place through other management measures.

• (5) Nevertheless, STECF also encouraged further monitoring the bycatch composition in the sprat fishery and reiterated that it is unable to assess whether any detectable, direct or detrimental impacts on the marine ecosystem are likely to arise from the derogation from the sprat box. Accordingly, the Member States concerned should further monitor the bycatch composition of the fleets involved in this fishery, in order to allow reassessing the derogation from the sprat box if detrimental impacts on the marine ecosystem caused by that derogation are detected.

• (6) In addition, regarding the geographical scope of the sprat box, the two areas in waters of the United Kingdom currently part of the sprat box should not be part of it anymore as they are no longer under Union jurisdiction.

• (7) Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 should therefore be amended accordingly.

• (8) In view of the direct impact of derogating from the sprat box on the economic activities linked to the sprat fisheries and on the planning of the fishing season for sprat by Union vessels, this Regulation should enter into force as soon as possible to avoid interfering with the sprat fishing season and affecting the uptake level of the Union quota for sprat established for the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

• (9) The measures provided for by this Regulation applicable to Union waters are in pursuit of the objectives set out in Article 494(1) and (2) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part ⁶, and have regard to the principles referred to in Article 494(3) of that agreement. They are without prejudice to any measures applicable in waters of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

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 July 2024.

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

Done at Brussels, 19 July 2024.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

https://stecf.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/d/stecf/stecf-plen-24-01_20240405.

ANNEX

Point 4 of Part C of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 is replaced by the following:

• ‘4. Restrictions on fishing for sprat to protect herring in ICES division 4b

Fishing with any towed gear with a codend mesh size of less than 32 mm or static nets less than 30 mm mesh size shall be prohibited within the geographical area enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following coordinates, which shall be measured according to the WGS84, from 1 July to 31 October, within the geographical area bounded by the following coordinates:

• — the west coast of Denmark at latitude 55°30′ N,

• — latitude 55°30′ N, longitude 7°00′ E,

• — latitude 57°00′ N, longitude 7°00′ E,

• — the west coast of Denmark at latitude 57°00′ N.

By way of derogation from the first paragraph, that paragraph shall not apply to fishing with the following gear:

• (a) towed gear with a mesh size of less than 32 mm;

• (b) purse seines; or

• (c) gillnets, entangling nets, trammel nets and driftnets with a mesh size of less than 30 mm.

Member States having a direct management interest shall submit to the Commission, by 30 April each year, monitoring data supporting the derogation as regards the herring bycatch by the fleets involved in the sprat fishery. Such data could be based on the data collection in sampling programs for industrial fisheries.’

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2024/3000/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)