Council Regulation (EC) No 676/2007 (repealed)Show full title

Council Regulation (EC) No 676/2007

of 11 June 2007

establishing a multiannual plan for fisheries exploiting stocks of plaice and sole in the North Sea (repealed)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(1),

Whereas:

(1) Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has indicated that the stocks of plaice and of sole in the North Sea have been subjected to levels of mortality by fishing which have exceeded the level determined by ICES as being consistent with the precautionary approach, and the stocks are at risk of being harvested unsustainably.

(2) Advice from a committee of experts examining multiannual management strategies indicates that the highest yield of sole can be taken at a fishing mortality rate of 0,2 on ages two to six years.

(3) The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) has advised that the precautionary biomass for the stock of plaice in the North Sea should be 230 000 tonnes, that the fishing mortality rate necessary to produce the highest yield from the stock of plaice in the North Sea in the long term is 0,3 and that the precautionary biomass for the stock of sole in the North Sea should be 35 000 tonnes.

(4) Measures need to be taken to establish a multiannual plan for fisheries management of the stocks of plaice and sole in the North Sea. Such measures, where they concern the stock of plaice in the North Sea, are to be established in the light of consultations with Norway.

(5) The objective of the plan is to ensure, in a first stage, that stocks of plaice and sole in the North Sea are brought within safe biological limits, and in a second stage and after due consideration by the Council on the implementing methods for doing so that those stocks, are exploited on the basis of maximum sustainable yield and under sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions.

(6) Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy(2) requires, inter alia, that to achieve that objective, the Community is to apply the precautionary approach in taking measures to protect and conserve the stock, to provide for its sustainable exploitation and to reduce to a minimum the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems.

(7) This Regulation should aim at a progressive implementation of an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and should contribute to efficient fishing activities within an economically viable and competitive fisheries industry, providing a fair standard of living for those who depend on fishing North Sea plaice and sole and taking into account the interest of consumers. The Community bases its policy partly on the policy recommended by the appropriate Regional Advisory Council (RAC). A large part of the catches of plaice in the North Sea are taken together with catches of sole. The management of plaice cannot be addressed independently of the management of sole.

(8) Consequently, in drawing up the multiannual plan, account should also be taken of the fact that the high fishing mortality rate for plaice is due to a great extent to the large discards from beam-trawl sole fishing with 80mm nets in the southern North Sea.

(9) Such control of the fishing mortality rates can be achieved by establishing an appropriate method for the establishment of the level of total allowable catches (TACs) of the stocks concerned, and a system including limitations on permissible days at sea whereby fishing efforts on those stocks are restricted to levels at which the TACs and planned fishing mortality rates are unlikely to be exceeded, but are sufficient to catch the TAC allowed on the basis of the fishing mortality rates established in the plan.

(10) The plan should cover all flatfish fisheries having a significant impact on the fishing mortality of the plaice and sole stocks concerned. However, Member States whose quotas for either stock are less than 5 % of the European Community's share of the TAC should be exempted from the provisions of the plan concerning effort management.

(11) This plan should be the main instrument for flatfish management in the North Sea, and should contribute to the recovery of other stocks such as cod.

(12) Control measures in addition to those laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the Common Fisheries Policy(3) need to be included in order to ensure compliance with the measures laid down in this Regulation.

(13) In 2006 the Commission initiated a debate concerning a Community strategy for a gradual reduction in fishing mortality in all major fisheries by means of a communication concerning the attainment of the maximum sustainable yield objective by 2015. The Commission has submitted this communication to the RACs for their opinion.

(14) The Commission has requested STECF to report on key aspects of impact assessment in relation to the management of plaice and sole, which should be based on accurate, objective and comprehensive biological and financial information. That impact assessment will be annexed to the Commission's proposal concerning the second stage of the multiannual plan.

(15) The multiannual plan should be deemed to be a recovery plan during its first stage and a management plan during its second stage, within the meaning of Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

Opinion of the European Parliament delivered on 28 September 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(2)

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.

(3)

OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 (OJ L 409, 30.12.2006, p. 11).