The European Parliament adopted by 353 votes to 214, with 55 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down conservation, management and control measures applicable in the area covered by the Convention on future multilateral cooperation in the North-East Atlantic fisheries, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1899/85 and Regulation (EU) No 1236/2010.
The proposed Regulation: (a) lays down conservation and management measures and implements into Union law the amendments to the Scheme of Control and Enforcement adopted by the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (the NEAFC Scheme); (b) establishes measures for certain pelagic fisheries in the Convention Area and Union waters of the Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries (CECAF) area.
The position adopted by the European Parliament at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure is as follows:
Marking of gear
Fishing gear used by Union fishing vessels in the Regulatory Area should be marked in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 and generally accepted international standards, in particular the Convention on Conduct of Fishing Operations in the North Atlantic, signed in London on 1 June 1967. It should be prohibited to deploy fishing gear that is not marked, if marking is required, or if the marking does not meet the requirements referred to in paragraph 1. NEAFC fisheries inspectors may remove and dispose of fishing gear with non-compliant marking, as well as fish that are found in the gear.
Waste from fishing vessels and retrieval of lost gear
Any deliberate abandonment or discarding of fishing gear, and any discharge of waste from ships should be the responsibility of the master. Union fishing vessels should notify the competent authorities of their flag Member State within 24 hours about the required information in those cases where the lost gear cannot be retrieved.
Member States should undertake to retrieve on a regular basis lost fixed gear belonging to vessels flying their flag. If gear is retrieved that has not been reported as lost, the Member State or other Contracting Party that retrieved the gear may recover the cost from the master of the vessel that has lost the gear.
Infringement procedures
Where infringement of NEAFC rules is recorded in the inspection report, the inspecting Member State should either take appropriate enforcement measures or notify, by email, the designated authorities of the flag Member State or flag Contracting Party of the inspected fishing vessel about the intention to transfer the proceedings. That procedure should be without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the inspecting Member State, flag Member State or flag Contracting Party to enforce their own law and to the jurisdiction of the flag State regarding fishing activities within the Regulatory Area.
Remote surveillance
In landing and processing facilities where more than 3 000 tonnes of certain pelagic stocks are weighed per calendar year and where landings above 10 tonnes of those stocks occur, thus excluding small-scale coastal and artisanal fishing, only landings and weighing of landings above 10 tonnes should be monitored through camera and sensor technologies. All landings should be counted to determine the threshold of 3 000 tonnes. Member States should make publicly available the list of ports that meet those conditions. The Commission should be empowered to adjust those thresholds and the methods for calculating them if adjustments and precisions are made to these aspects in future agreements reached between coastal States or within the framework of NEAFC.
The implementation of remote surveillance of landings can benefit from support under the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council.