Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2191 of 16 July 2025 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 as regards conservation measures in the Dogger Bank and in some areas in the Kattegat

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC [^ntr1-L_202502191EN.000101-E0001], and in particular Article 11(2) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Pursuant to Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Member States are empowered to adopt fisheries conservation measures in their waters that are necessary to comply with their obligations under Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC (‘Habitats Directive’) [^ntr2-L_202502191EN.000101-E0002], Article 4 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Birds Directive’) [^ntr3-L_202502191EN.000101-E0003] and Article 13(4) of Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Marine Strategy Framework Directive’) [^ntr4-L_202502191EN.000101-E0004].

• (2) Article 6 of the Habitats Directive requires Member States to establish the necessary conservation measures for special areas of conservation which correspond to the ecological requirements of those natural habitat types and species protected in the sites. It also requires Member States to take appropriate steps to avoid the deterioration of natural habitats and species habitats, as well as significant disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated.

• (3) Article 4 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to establish special conservation measures concerning the habitat of the species listed in its Annex I. It also requires Member States to take similar conservation measures for regularly occurring migratory species not listed in its Annex I.

• (4) In accordance with Article 13(4) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Member States are to adopt programmes of measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status, including spatial protection measures that contribute to coherent and representative networks of marine protected areas, and adequately cover the diversity of the constituent ecosystems, such as special areas of conservation pursuant to the Habitats Directive, special protection areas pursuant to the Birds Directive and marine protected areas as agreed by the Union or Member States concerned in the framework of international or regional agreements to which they are parties.

• (5) Pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, where a Member State considers that measures need to be adopted to comply with the obligations under Union environmental legislation referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and other Member States have a direct management interest in the fishery to be affected by such measures, the Commission is empowered to adopt such measures by means of delegated acts upon a joint recommendation submitted by the Member States.

• (6) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 [^ntr5-L_202502191EN.000101-E0005] establishes conservation measures for the protection of the marine environment in certain marine protected areas in the North Sea.

• (7) On 19 October 2023, Germany and the Netherlands (initiating Member States), together with Belgium, Denmark, France and Sweden, submitted to the Commission a joint recommendation regarding conservation measures in the German and Dutch areas of the Dogger Bank, in Natura 2000 sites ‘Doggerbank’ (DE1003301) and ‘Doggersbank’ (NL2008001).

• (8) The joint recommendation proposes conservation measures to protect sandbanks (habitat type H1110) from the impact of mobile bottom contacting gear by prohibiting mobile bottom trawls and seines in specific areas within these Natura 2000 sites.

• (9) The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) assessed the joint recommendation at its plenary session of 11-15 March 2024 [^ntr6-L_202502191EN.000101-E0006].

• (10) The STECF concluded that the proposed conservation measures in the Dogger Bank may contribute towards ensuring that the habitats and species addressed in the joint recommendation are maintained and restored at favourable conservation status, and represent a positive step forward towards: (i) minimising the negative impacts of fishing activities on certain habitats and their biological communities; and (ii) ensuring that fisheries activities avoid the degradation of the marine environment as stipulated in Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

• (11) The joint recommendation also extends the prohibition to seiners in both the management areas of Germany and the Netherlands. The STECF stressed that the inclusion of all the gear groups in the management measures is necessary to minimise the negative impacts of fishing and avoid the fishery-based degradation of the marine environment.

• (12) The joint recommendation also proposes control and enforcement measures. The STECF noted that the joint recommendation had taken into account previous STECF recommendations and concluded that these control and enforcement measures appear adequate and sufficient to ensure a proper enforcement of the measures proposed for the management zones. Some of the control measures proposed, however, are already a legal obligation and are therefore not included in this delegated regulation.

• (13) The conservation status of the site is still assessed as unfavourable and, according to the data submitted by the Member States, fishing activities have distorted the species composition towards smaller and short-lived species.

• (14) The Commission therefore considers that the measures proposed in the joint recommendation will contribute to minimising the negative impacts of fishing activities in the EU waters of the Dogger Bank Natura 2000 sites.

• (15) Article 3(3)(d) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 establishes a derogation from the fishing prohibition in the fishing restricted areas of Stora Middelgrund och Röde bank (SE0510186), Fladen (SE0510127), Lilla Middelgrund (SE0510126) and Morups bank (SE0510187) in the Kattegat area for gillnets and trammel nets, provided that fishing vessels take part in a national monitoring and assessing programme conducted by or on behalf of the national authorities to evaluate the bycatch of harbour porpoise and seabirds by use of remote electronic monitoring, including the use of on-board closed-circuit television cameras and position data. Article 3(3)(d) also required Sweden to review the data on incidental catches of harbour porpoise and seabirds annually for a final assessment by 31 December 2024.

• (16) That derogation was established following its assessment by the STECF in its plenary of 22-26 March 2021 [^ntr7-L_202502191EN.000101-E0007]. Although the STECF questioned the suitability of the derogation, it noted the possibility to review it after three years of application. That derogation was part of a wider joint recommendation submitted in 2021 that contained several measures on which the STECF had concluded that overall, they represented a positive step forward towards minimising the negative impacts of fishing activities on the habitats concerned.

• (17) On 11 July 2024, the North Sea Member States, with Sweden as initiating Member State, submitted to the Commission a joint recommendation proposing the removal of this derogation as no fisheries have taken place under the monitoring programme, and because there is new data demonstrating the poor status of the Belt Sea population.

• (18) The Commission considers that, for the reasons set out in recital (17) above, it is pertinent to remove the derogation for gillnets and trammel nets.

• (19) Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 should therefore be amended accordingly.

• (20) This Delegated Regulation is without prejudice to the need for additional conservation measures necessary to comply with the relevant provisions of the Birds, Habitats and Marine Strategy Framework Directives and the Commission’s position regarding compliance by the interested Member States with their obligations under the relevant Union environmental legislation,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 is amended as follows:

• (1) Article 3 is amended as follows:

• (a) point 1(a) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(a) in areas 1(1) to 1(15), except for the respective alert zones 1(10.az), 1(11.az), 1(12.az) and 1(13.az), 1(14.az) and 1(15.az), the following gears shall be prohibited: bottom trawl (TB), beam trawl (TBB), bottom otter trawl (OTB), otter twin trawl (OTT), bottom pair trawl (PTB), nephrops trawl (TBN), shrimp trawl (TBS), seine (SX), Danish anchor seine (SDN), Scottish seine (SSC), Scottish pair seine (SPR), boat or vessel seine (SV), except for fishing activities with beam trawls and bobbin ropes with mesh size between 16 and 31 mm (TBB_CRU_16-31) in the traditional fishery targeting brown shrimp (Crangon spp.) in area 1(10)(b);’;

• (b) point 1(b) is replaced by the following:

• ‘(b) in addition, in areas 1(10) to 1(15), except for the respective alert zones 1(10.az), 1(11.az), 1(12.az), 1(13.az), 1(14.az) and 1(15.az) the following gears shall be prohibited: boat dredge (DRB) and mechanised dredge including suction dredge (HMD);’;

• (c) point 3(d) is deleted;

• (2) Article 4 is amended as follows:

• (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Fishing vessels carrying on board any mobile bottom contacting gear that are not authorised to fish in areas 1(1) to 1(15), including the respective alert zones 1(12.az), 1(13.az), 1(14.az) and 1(15.az), and fishing vessels carrying on board gillnets and entangling nets that are not authorised to fish in areas 4(1) to 4(4), may transit across those respective areas provided that these gears be lashed and stowed during the transit in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 47 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.’

;

• (b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3.   The speed during transit for all fishing vessels that are not authorised to fish in areas 1(10) to 1(15), including the respective alert zones 1(12.az), 1(13.az), 1(14.az) and 1(15.az), area 2(28) and areas 4(1) to 4(3), shall not be less than six knots except in case of force majeure, in accordance with Article 50(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.’

;

• (3) Article 5, paragraph 2, point c is replaced by the following:

• ‘(c) carrying on board any prohibited gear and travelling under six knots in areas 1(12) to 1(15) (Annex I), including the respective alert zones 1(12.az), 1(13.az), 1(14.az) and 1(15.az). In areas 1(14), 1(15) and the alert zones 1(14.az) and 1(15.az), VMS data can also be transmitted via GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication).’;

• (4) Article 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 6

Review

From 8 March 2023, Member States concerned shall monitor, assess and report on the implementation of the measures set out in Articles 3, 4 and 5, every three years for measures in areas 4(1) and 4(4) (Annex VI) under the Birds Directive, and every six years for measures in areas 1(10) to 1(13) (Annex I), area 2(28) (Annex II) and areas 4(2) and 4(3) (Annex VI) under the Habitats Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Member States shall review the measures in areas 1(14) and 1(15) six years after their entry into force.’

;

• (5) Annex I is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth 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, 16 July 2025.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

[^ntr1-L_202502191EN.000101-E0001]: OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2013/1380/oj.

[^ntr2-L_202502191EN.000101-E0002]: Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/43/oj).

[^ntr3-L_202502191EN.000101-E0003]: Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2009/147/oj).

[^ntr4-L_202502191EN.000101-E0004]: Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) (OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/56/oj).

[^ntr5-L_202502191EN.000101-E0005]: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 of 5 September 2016 establishing fisheries conservation measures for the protection of the marine environment in the North Sea (OJ L 19, 25.1.2017, p. 10, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2017/118/oj).

[^ntr6-L_202502191EN.000101-E0006]: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries 75th Plenary Report (STECF-PLEN-24-01), Rihan, D. and Doerner, H. editor(s), Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/82418, JRC137730.

[^ntr7-L_202502191EN.000101-E0007]: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) – 66th Plenary Report (PLEN-21-01). EUR 28359 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021, ISBN 978-92-76-36151-0 (online), doi:10.2760/437609 (online), JRC124902.

ANNEX

In Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118, the following points are added (all coordinates measured according to the WGS84 coordinate system):

‘ 1(14): Management zone located in the Southern part of the Dutch Natura 2000 site Dogger Bank (NL2008001).

The geographical area enclosed by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following coordinates:

Point	Latitude N (y)	Longitude E (x)
A01	55,219539 °	4,032589 °
A02	54,399216 °	2,793136 °
A03	54,380169 °	2,763327 °
A04	54,399905 °	2,773361 °
A05	54,566153 °	2,866138 °
A06	54,600000 °	2,900000 °
A07	54,600000 °	3,000000 °
A08	54,900000 °	3,300000 °
A09	54,900000 °	3,450000 °
A10	55,200000 °	3,750000 °
A11	55,250000 °	3,700000 °
A12	55,300000 °	3,700000 °
A13	55,350000 °	3,750000 °
A14	55,350098 °	3,900085 °

1(14.az): Alert zone of 4nm surrounding the management zone located in the Southern part of the Dutch Natura 2000 site Dogger Bank (NL2008001).

The geographical area enclosed by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following coordinates:

Point	Latitude N (y)	Longitude E (x)
AAZ01	55,398662 °	3,985798 °
AAZ02	55,244121 °	4,142261 °
AAZ03	55,223544 °	4,150326 °
AAZ04	55,202652 °	4,146567 °
AAZ05	55,183685 °	4,132361 °
AAZ06	54,323936 °	2,831891 °
AAZ07	54,312857 °	2,779999 °
AAZ08	54,314559 °	2,733106 °
AAZ09	54,326877 °	2,690952 °
AAZ10	54,348385 °	2,660469 °
AAZ11	54,374488 °	2,647378 °
AAZ12	54,397131 °	2,651871 °
AAZ13	54,593427 °	2,760873 °
AAZ14	54,648790 °	2,816134 °
AAZ15	54,666567 °	2,869256 °
AAZ16	54,666585 °	2,933614 °
AAZ17	54,948760 °	3,215421 °
AAZ18	54,966563 °	3,269037 °
AAZ19	54,966595 °	3,382883 °
AAZ20	55,200096 °	3,615802 °
AAZ21	55,224445 °	3,591366 °
AAZ22	55,241259 °	3,583495 °
AAZ23	55,308592 °	3,583298 °
AAZ24	55,325405 °	3,591057 °
AAZ25	55,398486 °	3,663960 °
AAZ26	55,416545 °	3,718386 °
AAZ27	55,416683 °	3,931697 °
AAZ28	55,398662 °	3,985798 °

1(15): Management zone located in Northern part of the German and Dutch Natura 2000 sites Dogger Bank (NL2008001 and DE1003301).

The geographical area enclosed by:

• (a) seaward separation line between the German and Danish Exclusive Economic Zones from coordinates of point B01 55,810118° N 4,019211° E to latitude 55,685000° N;

• (b) rhumb line between the intersection of the seaward separation line between the German and Danish Exclusive Economic Zones with latitude 55,685000° N to coordinates of point B02 55,685000° N 4,000000° E in the German Exclusive Economic Zone;

• (c) rhumb lines sequentially joining the following coordinates in the German Exclusive Economic Zone:

Point	Latitude N (y)	Longitude E (x)
B02	55,685000 °	4,000000 °
B03	55,650000 °	4,000000 °
B04	55,650000 °	4,100000 °
B05	55,550000 °	4,200000 °
B06	55,550000 °	4,250000 °
B07	55,450000 °	4,250000 °

• (d) rhumb line from coordinates of point B07 55,450000° N 4,250000° E westwards along latitude 55,450000° N to the seaward separation line between the German and Dutch Exclusive Economic Zones;

• (e) seaward separation line between the German and Dutch Exclusive Economic Zones from latitude 55,450000° N northwards to latitude 55,550000° N;

• (f) rhumb line between the intersection of the seaward separation line between the German and Dutch Exclusive Economic Zones with latitude 55,550000° N westwards to coordinates of point B08 55,550000° N 3,700000° E in the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone;

• (g) rhumb lines sequentially joining the following coordinates in the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone

Point	Latitude N (y)	Longitude E (x)
B08	55,550000 °	3,700000 °
B09	55,500000 °	3,650000 °
B10	55,500000 °	3,500000 °
B11	55,586973 °	3,500000 °
B12	55,645090 °	3,635784 °

• (h) rhumb line between coordinates of point B12 55,645090° N 3,635784° E in the Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone to coordinates of point B13 55,645643°N 3,637786° E in the German Exclusive Economic Zone;

• (i) rhumb line between coordinates of point B13 55,645643°N 3,637786° E and point B01(14) 55,810118° N 4,019211° E in the German Exclusive Economic Zone, so that the management zone ends again at the seaward separation line between the German and Danish Exclusive Economic Zones;

• (j) the seaward separation line between the German and Danish Exclusive Economic Zones divides the management zone in its Dutch and German part.

1(15.az): Alert zone of 4nm surrounding the management zone in the Northern part of the German and Dutch Natura 2000 sites Dogger Bank (NL2008001 and DE1003301).

The geographical area enclosed by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following coordinates:

Point	Latitude N (y)	Longitude E (x)
BAZ01	55,433416 °	3,476653 °
BAZ02	55,443556 °	3,433622 °
BAZ03	55,462242 °	3,400651 °
BAZ04	55,486706 °	3,382738 °
BAZ05	55,602823 °	3,382392 °
BAZ06	55,630758 °	3,407319 °
BAZ07	55,698214 °	3,564762 °
BAZ08	55,701245 °	3,572502 °
BAZ09	55,872807 °	3,970108 °
BAZ10	55,878430 °	4,025862 °
BAZ11	55,832928 °	4,299922 °
BAZ12	55,821027 °	4,330757 °
BAZ13	55,710591 °	4,481739 °
BAZ14	55,672619 °	4,488346 °
BAZ15	55,638451 °	4,458485 °
BAZ16	55,618418 °	4,401279 °
BAZ17	55,618418 °	4,266729 °
BAZ18	55,615659 °	4,269480 °
BAZ19	55,613795 °	4,289388 °
BAZ20	55,602241 °	4,325939 °
BAZ21	55,584202 °	4,352839 °
BAZ22	55,562052 °	4,367487 °
BAZ23	55,436703 °	4,367114 °
BAZ24	55,412262 °	4,349244 °
BAZ25	55,393541 °	4,316288 °
BAZ26	55,383415 °	4,273270 °
BAZ27	55,383415 °	4,054121 °
BAZ28	55,390787 °	4,016721 °
BAZ29	55,483416 °	3,810961 °
BAZ30	55,483416 °	3,768298 °
BAZ31	55,450665 °	3,735463 °
BAZ32	55,433416 °	3,679988 °
BAZ33	55,433416 °	3,476653 °’

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/2191/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)