Conservation of fishery resources: catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus

The European Parliament adopted by 564 votes 9, with 5 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a catch documentation programme for bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus and amending Regulation (EC) No 1984/2003.

Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure (formerly known as the codecision procedure). The amendments adopted in plenary are the result of a compromise negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council. They amend Commission proposal as follows:

Amendments adopted by the ICCAT: Parliament incorporates, into Union legislation, the last recommendation adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) adopted in Recife on 15 November 2009 and which entered into force on 1 June 2010.

The measures adopted include, inter alia:

• Member States shall require a completed bluefin tuna catch document for each bluefin tuna landed or transhipped at their ports, caged as specified in Annex IIIa , and harvested from their farms;
• each lot of bluefin tuna domestically traded, imported into, exported or re-exported from the territory of the Union shall be accompanied by a validated catch document and, where applicable, an ICCAT transfer declaration or a validated bluefin tuna re-export certificate (referred to as "re-export certificate");
• any such landing, transhipment, caging, harvest, domestic trade, import, export or re-export of bluefin tuna without a completed and validated catch document and, where applicable, a re-export certificate shall be prohibited;
• farm Member States shall ensure that bluefin tuna are harvested from farms in the same year in which they were caught, or before the beginning of the purse seiners fishing period, if harvested in the following year. Where harvesting operations are not completed within that period, farm Member States shall complete and transmit an annual carry-over declaration to the Commission within ten days of the end of that period;
• the addition of a new Annex III with detailed instructions on the issuing, completion and validation of the BCD.

Comitology: the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of the transposition of new conservation measures adopted by ICCAT, thus updating and supplementing the Annexes to this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

Review: the Commission shall review the Regulation following the recommendations adopted by ICCAT, taking into account the updated scientific opinions on stocks size which will be submitted at its meetings and shall put forward any amendments that may be necessary.