16 Fisheries: catch quotas and effort
limitation for 2015
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details | Draft regulation regarding fishing opportunities in 2015 for EU vessels for fish stocks in EU and non-EU waters
|
| Legal base | Article 43(3) TFEU; QMV
|
| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
| Document numbers | (36469), 14590/14, COM(14) 670
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
16.1 The EU Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for particular fish
stocks need to be agreed by the Council before the start of the
calendar year to which they apply, but the requirement to take
into account scientific advice means that official texts have
often been available too late to be considered properly before
their adoption. This has been a particular problem for those stocks
(including a number of importance to the UK in the North Sea)
which are jointly managed with third countries, notably Norway,
since the EU share has to be negotiated with them.
16.2 Even though no figures were available for jointly managed
stocks, or those subject to management by regional fisheries organisations,
the Commission put forward on 28 October 2014 this draft Council
Regulation which sought to set TACs for 2015, as well as effort
(days at sea) limits for certain stocks, with the proposals reflecting
scientific advice, the EU's commitment to restore stocks to levels
which will achieve maximum sustainable yields, and the CFP objectives
of ensuring that EU fisheries are ecologically, economically and
socially sustainable. The hope was that the proposals would be
agreed by the December Fisheries Council, and, in our Report of
19 November 2014, we said that, in view of the desirability of
establishing the TACs in question before the start of 2015, the
best we could do at that stage was to report the current position
to the House, and to ensure that as many Members as possible had
a chance to raise points with the Government before any decision
was taken.
16.3 In particular, we noted that this had in recent
years been achieved by means of a general debate on fisheries
on the Floor of the House (or, occasionally, in Westminster Hall),
and we expressed the hope that it would again be possible for
such a debate to be held this year, well in advance of the December
Council. We added that, if that were the case, we would be prepared
to grant a waiver under paragraph 3(b) of the Scrutiny Reserve
Resolution, in advance of the Council, whilst continuing to hold
the proposals under scrutiny, pending any further information
from the Government, particularly on those stocks subject to joint
management.
16.4 The debate in question took place on the
Floor of the House[64]
on 11 December 2014, and we have subsequently received from the
Government an account of the agreement reached in the Fisheries
Council on 15-16 December 2014.[65]
In the light of this, we are now content to clear the document.
Full details of
the document: Draft Council Regulation
fixing for 2015 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks
and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for
Union vessels, in certain non-Union waters and repealing Council
Regulation (EU) No. 779/2014: (36469), 14590/14, COM(14) 670.
Background
16.5 The EU TACs for particular fish stocks in the
following calendar year are based on scientific advice, and then
have to be agreed by the Fisheries Council following a proposal
from the Commission. Since agreement is ideally needed before
the start of the calendar year to which the proposal applies,
this has habitually presented scrutiny difficulties, in that the
requirement to take into account the scientific advice means that
official texts have often been available too late to be considered
properly beforehand: and this has been a particular problem for
those stocks (including a number of importance to the UK in the
North Sea) which are jointly managed with third countries, notably
Norway, since the EU share has to be negotiated with them.
The current proposal
16.6 Even though no figures were yet available for
jointly managed stocks, or those subject to management by regional
fisheries organisations, the Commission sought as far as was possible
to set out in this draft Council Regulation the relevant fishing
opportunities for 2015, including annual catch limits and effort
(days at sea) limits for the management of certain stocks. We
noted, that, according to the Commission, the TACs proposed reflected
both the scientific advice, and the EU's commitment to bring the
stocks to levels which will achieve maximum sustainable yields
by 2015 (or 2020 at the latest); that, where appropriate, they
were set in line with the multi-annual management plans which
have been adopted for a number of key stocks; and that, where
the necessary data was limited, a precautionary approach had been
adopted.
16.7 We went on to note that the Government's objectives
were to obtain the best possible outcome for the UK consistent
with following scientific advice, achieving maximum sustainable
yields by 2015, where possible, and no later than 2020, and minimising
discards. We also drew attention to a number of detailed comments
it had made as regards the maximum sustainable yield; the proposed
effort (days at sea) restrictions; the arrangements proposed for
data limited stocks; those for fully documented fisheries (intended
to test a catch-quota system where all catches are landed and
counted against quota in order to avoid discards); the coastal
state negotiations on mackerel, blue whiting and herring; and
other provisions relating to mackerel, blue whiting, Atlanto-Scandian
herring, and bass.
Subsequent developments
16.8 In the event, a general debate on fisheries
took place on the Floor of the House on 11 December 2014, thereby
triggering the scrutiny waiver, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary
of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(George Eustice) wrote to us on 18 December, setting out the basis
of the agreement reached at the Council meeting earlier that week
(which also took into account the outcome of the negotiations
with Norway and Faroes on shared stocks).
16.9 The Minister says that he was able to secure
a fair and balanced deal which supports the fishing industry and
the sustainability of UK fisheries, involving increases for some
stocks whilst accepting reductions where the science indicated
that this was necessary to support stock recovery. He adds that
his top priority had been to ensure that the current level of
days at sea for fishermen remained the same, and that this was
achieved, along with much needed rollovers for a number of data
limited stocks.
16.10 A full list of all the agreed quotas is at
the Annex, in addition to which the Minister describes the key
outcomes for the UK as being:
North Sea
· TAC
increases for cod (5%), haddock (6%), Nephrops (15%), plaice (15%)
and anglerfish (20%)
· Rollover
of 2014 TAC for sole, megrim, dab and flounder and ling
· TAC
cuts for whiting (-15%), saithe (-15%) and herring (-5%)
Celtic Sea and Channel
· TAC
increase for Western Channel sole (2%)
· Rollover
for monkfish, megrim, pollack and Bristol Channel plaice
· TAC
reductions for Celtic Sea cod (-26% instead of -64%), Celtic Sea
haddock
(-12% instead of -41%), Eastern Channel sole (-28% instead of
-60%) and sole in the Bristol Channel (-15% instead of -35%)
Irish Sea
· A
3% increase for Nephrops instead of a -14% cut
· A rollover
for haddock instead of a -20% cut
· TAC
cuts for cod (-20%) and herring (-8%)
West of Scotland
· TAC
increases for haddock (14%), monkfish (20%) and megrim (1%)
· Rollovers
for plaice, sole and pollack
· TAC
reductions for Nephrops (-7%), saithe (-15%) and herring (-19%)
All areas
· A
maintenance of the effort (days at sea) freeze for all areas covered
by the Cod Recovery Plan for a third year so as to give fishermen
the time they need to fish sustainably.
· An 11%
increase for Northern Hake, on top of a 49% increase last year.
16.11 However, the Minister also says that, despite
pressing hard for measures to address declining sea bass levels,
he was disappointed that an agreement could not be reached on
specific measures to protect the stock (although he was able to
secure a commitment from the Commission to work with Member States
to reduce fishing pressure at the start of the main fishing season
next year — an issue which he says will be a priority for
him in the coming weeks).
16.12 Finally, the Minister says that the Presidency
reported progress on the negotiations with the European Parliament
on the so called 'Omnibus' dossier, which facilitates the implementation
of the landing obligation under the reformed CFP by removing contradictory
rules from the EU statute book. He notes that no agreement had
been reached in the first trilogue on 3 December, and that discussions
were expected to continue in the New Year, with the Commissioner
being committed to publishing guidance on the implementation of
the pelagic landing obligation, so as to mitigate any potential
confusion about the rules in the absence of an agreed Regulation.
Previous Committee Reports
Twentieth Report HC 219-xix (2014-15), chapter 2
(19 November 2014).
Annex
| 2014
| 2015
| %
change
| UK
quota
|
| North Sea
|
| Cod | 23,073
| 24,227 | +5
| 11,369 |
| Haddock | 32,079
| 33,947 | +6
| 28,576 |
| Saithe | 36,917
| 31,383 | -15
| 5,249 |
| Whiting | 15,233
| 13,060 | -15
| 8,739 |
| Sole | 11,890
| 11,890 | 0
| 510 |
| Plaice | 104,117
| 119,690 | +15
| 34,066 |
| Hake | 2,874
| 3,190 | +11
| 574 |
| Monkfish | 7,833
| 9,390 | +20
| 7,641 |
| Megrim | 2,083
| 2,083 | 0
| 2,006 |
| Dab and flounder | 18,434
| 18,434 | 0
| 1,588 |
| Lemon sole | 6,391
| 6,391 | 0
| 3,904 |
| Ling | 2,428
| 2,428 | 0
| 1,869 |
| Turbot and brill | 4,642
| 4,642 | 0
| 717 |
| Nephrops | 15,499
| 17,843 | +15
| 15,456 |
| Northern prawn | 2,446
| 3,270 | +34
| 720 |
| Sprat | 135,000
| 218,000 | +58
| 8,271 |
| Skates and rays | 1,256
| 1,256 | 0
| 814 |
| Eastern Channel
|
| Cod | 1,620
| 1,701 | +5
| 157 |
| Plaice | 5,322
| 4,787 | -10
| 1,393 |
| Sole | 4,838
| 3,483 | -28
| 670 |
| Western Channel
|
| Cod | 6,848
| 5,072 | -26
| 354 |
| Haddock | 9,479
| 8,342 | -12
| 834 |
| Whiting | 20,668
| 17,742 | -14
| 1,890 |
| Hake | 45,896
| 50,944 | +11
| 9,155 |
| Pollack | 13,495
| 13,495 | 0
| 2,353 |
| Sole (English Channel) |
832 | 851
| +2 | 501
|
| Sole (Bristol channel) |
1,001 | 851
| -15 | 239
|
| Sole (Western approaches)
| 382 | 382
| 0 | 64
|
| Plaice (Bristol Channel)
| 461 | 461
| 0 | 65
|
| Plaice (Western approaches)
| 135 | 135
| 0 | 17
|
| Monkfish | 33,516
| 33,516 | 0
| 6,027 |
| Skate and rays | 8,032
| 8,032 | 0
| 2,076 |
| Irish Sea
|
| Cod | 228
| 228 | -20
| 52 |
| Haddock | 1,181
| 1,181 | 0
| 566 |
| Plaice | 1,220
| 1,098 | -10
| 281 |
| Sole | 95
| 90 | -5
| 23 |
| Nephrops | 20,989
| 21,619 | +3
| 7,092 |
| West of Scotland
|
| Cod | 0
| 0 | 0
| 0 |
| Whiting | 292
| 263 | -20
| 150 |
| Haddock | 3,988
| 4,536 | +14
| 3,532 |
| Monkfish | 4,432
| 5,313 | +20
| 1,635 |
| Plaice | 658
| 658 | 0
| 388 |
| Ling | 8,464
| 8,464 | 0
| 2,863 |
| Megrim | 4,074
| 4,129 | +1
| 1,295 |
| Nephrops | 15,287
| 14,190 | -7
| 13,554 |
| Saithe | 7,545
| 6,348 | -15
| 3,022 |
| Blue ling | 2,240
| 4,746 | +112
| 912 |
| Pelagic stocks
|
| North Sea herring | 282,022
| 267,197 | -5
| 62,292 |
| Eastern Channel herring
| 51,704 | 48,986
| -5 | 4,673
|
| Irish Sea herring | 5,251
| 4,854 | -8
| 3,590 |
| West of Scotland herring
| 28,067 | 22,690
| -19 | 13,711
|
| Blue whiting | 185,525
| 197,195 | +6
| 39,065 |
| Mackerel | 611,205
| 519,612 | -15
| 302,000 |
| Norwegian waters
|
| Cod | 20,524
| 20,524 | 0
| 9,622 |
| Haddock | 1,200
| 1,200 | 0
| 789 |
| Faroese waters
|
| Cod and haddock | 950
| 950 | 0
| 817 |
| Saithe | 3,000
| 3,000 | 0
| 696 |
64 HC Deb, 11 December 2014, Cols. 1003-1055. Back
65
Now confirmed in Council Regulation (EU) No. 2015/104 (OJ No.
L 22, 28.01.15, p.1.). Back
|
