Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2002 of 6 October 2025 amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the number of fish aggregating devices permitted in the Convention area of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2017 laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention area of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EC) No 1984/2003 and (EC) No 520/2007 (1), and in particular Article 73(1)(i) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The Union is party to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), having approved the accession to the ICCAT Convention pursuant to Council Decision 86/238/EEC (2).

(2) ICCAT adopts measures to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the ICCAT Convention area and to safeguard the marine ecosystems in which these resources occur. Such measures are binding upon the Union.

(3) Since the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107, ICCAT has adopted, at its 2024 annual meeting, recommendation 24-01 (3) on a multi-annual conservation and management programme for tropical tunas. ICCAT recommendation 24-01 includes a provision reducing the number of fish aggregating devices (FADs) per vessel from 300 to 288 as of 1 January 2026.

(4) That measure should be implemented into Union law. Therefore, Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 should be amended accordingly.

(5) As the provisions provided for in this Regulation have a direct impact on the planning of the fishing season of Union vessels and on related economic activities, this Regulation should enter into force as soon as possible,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107

Article 9 (4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2107 is replaced by the following:

‘4.   As of 1 January 2026, Member States shall ensure that no more than 288 FADs per vessel with operational buoys are active at the same time.’.

Article 2

Entry into force

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

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

Done at Brussels, 6 October 2025.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 315, 30.11.2017, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/2107/oj.

(2) Council Decision 86/238/EEC of 9 June 1986 on the accession of the Community to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, as amended by the Protocol annexed to the Final Act of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the States Parties to the Convention signed in Paris on 10 July 1984 (OJ L 162, 18.6.1986, p. 33, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/1986/238/oj).

(3) Recommendation 24-01 by ICCAT (https://www.iccat.int/Documents/Recs/compendiopdf-e/2024-01-e.pdf).