The Committee on Fisheries adopted the report by Jarosław WALESA (PPE, PL) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007.
The parliamentary committee recommends that the European Parliament position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure modify the Commission's proposal as follows:
Scope: the Commission proposal provides for the plan to also apply to plaice, flounder, turbot and brill (flat fish) in the Union waters of the Baltic Sea caught when fishing for the stocks concerned (that is, cod, herring and sprat).
The report wants to shift the importance from flatfish to the main species covered; otherwise the proportionality of the whole proposal might be disturbed. Therefore, it is suggested that the regulation provides, in addition, technical measures relating to by-catches of plaice, flounder, turbot and brill, which apply when fishing activities targeting the stocks concerned.
The technical conservation measures relating to plaice, flounder, turbot and brill may be adopted by delegated acts including the participation of the European Parliament and the consultation committees concerned.
Plan objectives: the plan shall ensure the achievement of the objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP), in particular:
· restoring and maintaining the stocks concerned above biomass levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield;
· contributing to the conservation of the stocks of plaice, brill, flounder and turbot through management of by-catches, in line with the precautionary approach;
· contributing to the elimination of discards, taking into account the best available scientific advice, by avoiding and reducing unwanted catches.
Coherence with Union environmental legislation: the Members demanded that the plan apply the ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. In order to ensure that negative impacts of fishing activities on the marine ecosystem are minimised, the plan shall contribute to achievement of the objectives of, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive so as to achieve good environmental status by 2020.
Objectives targeted: the fishing mortality target shall take into account the most recent scientific advice and shall, where possible, be achieved by 2015 and, on a progressive, incremental basis, by 2020 at the latest, and shall be maintained thereafter for the stocks concerned. Values for FMSY (fishing mortality consistent with achieving maximum sustainable yield) should aim at 0.8 x FMSY.
Specific measures: Members indicated that any fishing activity should be prohibited from 1 May to 31 October within the areas enclosed by rhumb lines successively connectingcertain following positions noted in the amended regulation.
Regional cooperation: Members considered that the rules should take account of the principle of regionalisation outlined in Article 18 of the base CFP regulation PCP (Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013). Any joint recommendations concerning the specific conservation measures or technical measures may be submitted by the Member States concerned, after having consulted the regional advisory councils. The Member States may also submit such recommendations in the event of any abrupt change in the situation for any of the stocks covered by the plan, if the measures recommended are deemed necessary or justified by scientific advice.
Any deviations by the Commission from the joint recommendations would be presented to the European Parliament and to the Council and should be capable of being scrutinised.
Review: the first review of the plan should take place three years after its entry into force, and if the plan will have positive effects, to revise it again after five years. This will also provide a much needed flexibility to the plan.
Support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund: Members proposed to set rules to ensure that financial support under Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Councilcan be provided in the event of temporary cessation of fisheries.
In this context, the multi-annual plan provided for by this Regulation should be regarded as a multi-annual plan pursuant to the base CFP regulation.