The Committee on Fisheries adopted the report by Isabel CARVALHAIS (S&D, PT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the Regulation (EU) 2019/833 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2019 laying down conservation and enforcement measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation.
As a reminder, the proposal seeks to transpose into EU law the amendments to the conservation and enforcement measures adopted by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) at its last annual meeting in 2019.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as follows:
Cod in Division 3M
According to Members, the following control measures should apply to vessels with more than 1 250 kg of cod catches from Division 3M on board:
- vessels should land or tranship their cod catches from Division 3M only in designated ports;
- at least 48 hours before its estimated time of arrival in port, a vessel or its representative on its behalf shall advise the competent port authority of its estimated time of arrival, the estimated quantity of cod catches from Division 3M retained on board, and information on the Division or Divisions where any other cod catches retained on board were taken;
- each Member State should inspect each landing or transhipment of cod catches from Division 3M in its ports and prepare an inspection report, and send it to the Commission, with EFCA in copy, within 12 working days from the date on which the inspection was completed. That report should identify and provide details of any infringement of this Regulation detected during the port inspection. It should include all relevant information available in reference to infringements detected at sea during the current trip of the inspected fishing vessel.
Each Member State should inspect vessels with less than 1 250 kg of cod catches from Division 3M on board on a risk management basis.
The Commission or a body designated by it should ensure that all relevant information is transmitted to the NAFO Executive Secretary without delay, for posting on the NAFO MCS website.
Use of attachments and marking of gear
The committee proposed a new article stating that trawler vessels conducting a directed fishery for cod in Division 3M should use a sorting grid for the purpose of reducing the catches of smaller individuals of cod with a minimum bar spacing of 55 mm. The sorting grid should be placed in the top side panel of the trawl preceding the codend.
Transposition
As regards the transposition of the conservation and enforcement measures (CEM) amendments into EU law, Members proposed a number of amendments directly arising from the decisions of the 42th NAFO Annual Meeting in September 2020. Provisions halting Division 3M cod catches between 1 January and 31 March 2021 were introduced as well as the introduction of specific technical and control measures for cod catches in that Division for the remainder of the year.