PURPOSE: lay down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention Area of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: pursuant to Council Decision 2012/130/EU the Union is a Contracting Party to the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean (the SPRFMO Convention), which established the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), since 26 July 2010.
Within the SPRFMO, the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation is responsible for the adoption of measures designed to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources through the application of the precautionary approach and an ecosystem approach to fisheries management, and, in so doing, to safeguard the marine ecosystems in which these resources occur. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.
The conservation and management measures adopted by SPRFMO must be fully transposed into Union law and uniformly and effectively implemented within the Union.
CONTENT: this proposal aims at transposing already existing SPRFMO conservation and management measures, binding upon the Contracting Parties.
The Regulation shall apply to:
- the Union fishing vessels fishing in the SPRFMO Convention area or, in the case of transhipments, in the area outside the SPRFMO Convention area for the species caught in the SPRFMO Convention area;
- third country fishing vessels that access EU ports and that carry fishery products harvested in the Convention Area.
The proposal refers to:
- management, conservation and control measures concerning certain species (SPRFMO management measures applicable to jack mackerel and seabird mitigation measures) ;
- management, conservation and control measures concerning certain fishing methods (bottom fishing and exploratory fisheries);
- common control measures: (i) authorisations for fishing vessels and the SPRFMO Record of Vessels; (ii) provisions on transhipment activities; (iii) data collection and reporting; (iv) surveillance and observer programmes; (v) inspection in EU ports of third country fishing vessels carrying fishery products harvested in SPRFMO; (vi) applicable procedure in case of apparent infringements during port inspections; (vii) rules on enforcement and compliance, notably the circulation of information on illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing activities, the implementation of measures vis-à-vis fishing vessels included in the SPRFMO IUU list and the management of compliance issues.
Fishing opportunities for the EU decided by SPRFMO will not be covered by this proposal.
In order to swiftly incorporate into Union law future binding amendments to the SPRFMO conservation and management measures, the power to adopt acts shall be delegated to the Commission.