Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/340

Contents

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC^note, and in particular Article 11(2) thereof,Whereas:

(1)Pursuant to Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Member States are empowered to adopt fisheries conservation measures in their waters that are necessary to comply with their obligations under Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC (‘Habitats Directive’)^note, Article 4 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Birds Directive’)^note and Article 13(4) of Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Marine Strategy Framework Directive’)^note.

(2)Article 6 of the Habitats Directive requires Member States to establish the necessary conservation measures for special areas of conservation that correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types and species present on the sites as listed in the Annexes of that Directive.

(3)Article 4 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to establish special conservation measures concerning the habitat types listed in Annex I thereto and of the species listed in Annex II thereto, that are present on the sites. It also requires Member States to take appropriate steps to avoid the deterioration of natural habitats and species habitats, as well as significant disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated.

(4)In accordance with Article 13(4) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Member States are to adopt programmes of measures, including spatial protection measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status that contribute to coherent and representative networks of marine protected areas, and adequately cover the diversity of the constituent ecosystems, such as special areas of conservation pursuant to the Habitats Directive, special protection areas pursuant to the Birds Directive and marine protected areas as agreed by the Union or Member States concerned in the framework of international or regional agreements to which they are parties.

(5)Pursuant to Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, where a Member State considers that measures need to be adopted to comply with the obligations under Union environmental legislation referred to in Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and other Member States have a direct management interest in the fishery to be affected by such measures, the Commission is empowered to adopt such measures by means of delegated acts upon a joint recommendation submitted by the Member States.

(6)Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118^note establishes conservation measures for the protection of the marine environment in certain areas of the North Sea.

(7)On 4 February 2019, after having consulted the North Sea Advisory Council (NSAC), Germany together with Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, submitted to the Commission a joint recommendation regarding fisheries conservation measures in four Natura 2000 sites, DE1209-301 Sylter Aussenriff (Sylt Outer Reef), DE2104-301 Borkum-Riffgrund (Borkum Reef Ground), DE1003-301 Doggerbank (Dogger Bank) and DE1011-401 Östliche Deutsche Bucht SPA (Eastern German Bight), in the German exclusive economic zone in the North Sea.

(8)The joint recommendation contains fisheries management measures to protect sandbanks (habitat type 1110) and reefs (habitat type 1170) in Sylter Aussenriff and Borkum-Riffgrund from the impact of mobile bottom contacting gear, to protect the harbour porpoise in Sylter Aussenriff, Borkum-Riffgrund and Doggerbank and to protect six seabird species in Östliche Deutsche Bucht from being caught and/or killed in gillnets and entangling nets, in order to comply with obligations under Article 6 of the Habitats Directive and Article 4 of the Birds Directive. The joint recommendation also contains fisheries management measures to protect seafloor areas with the biotope type ‘Species-rich gravel, coarse sand and shell-gravel areas’ in Sylter Aussenriff and Borkum-Riffgrund from the impact of fishing activities, in order to comply with obligations under Article 13(4) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

(9)The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) reviewed and assessed the joint recommendation in its plenary session of 25-29 March 2019^note and concluded that the proposed conservation measures are a first step forward to avoid further degradation of the marine environment and to reduce negative impacts of fishing activities on sandbanks and reefs habitats, on the biotope ‘Species-rich gravel, coarse sand and shell gravel areas’, on the harbour porpoise and on some seabird populations. Although STECF stated that freezing the fishing effort with gillnets and entangling nets will not reduce their impacts, the fact that the fishing intensity cannot increase in the future will already have a positive influence on the habitats and species in the protected areas. In addition, STECF raised some particular points regarding the control, enforcement and monitoring of the effectiveness of the proposed measures, which could be further improved.

(10)The Commission asked for additional clarifications and invited the regional group of North Sea Member States (‘Scheveningen Group’) to consider further improvements of the proposed conservation measures. The Commission’s requests and subsequent amendments were discussed with the Member States having a direct management interest and the revised joint recommendation was submitted to the Commission on 17 June 2021.

(11)The Commission presented the delegated act on 2 March 2022 to the Fisheries and Aquaculture Expert Group attended by the European Parliament as an observer.

(12)The joint recommendation submitted by Germany as initiating Member State and the other Member States having a direct management interest proposes the following management measures in four Natura 2000 sites (Sylter Aussenriff, Borkum-Riffgrund, Doggerbank and Östliche Deutsche Bucht) in the German Exclusive Economic Zone in the North Sea:

—prohibition of fishing activities with mobile bottom contacting gear (TBB, OTB, OTT, PTB, TB, TBN, TBS, SX, SDN, SSC, SPR, SV, SB, DRB, DRH and HMD) in certain management areas in three Natura 2000 sites (Sylter Aussenriff, Östliche Deutsche Bucht and Borkum-Riffgrund), except for TBB_CRU_16-31 in certain zones in the eastern area of the Sylter Aussenriff, for protecting sandbanks (habitat type 1110), reefs (habitat type 1170) and/or seafloor areas with the biotope type ‘Species rich gravel, coarse sand and shell-gravel areas’;

—prohibition of any kind of fishing activities in 55 % of the area of Amrum Bank (habitat type 1110) in the Natura 2000 site Sylter Aussenriff, for protecting seafloor areas with the biotope type ‘Species rich gravel, coarse sand and shell-gravel areas’;

—prohibition of fishing activities with gillnets and entangling nets (GN, GNS, GND, GNC, GTR and GTN) in certain areas in two Natura 2000 sites (eastern part of Sylter Aussenriff and Östliche Deutsche Bucht), for protecting harbour porpoises and six key seabird species;

—seasonal closure of fishing activities with gillnets and entangling nets (GN, GNS, GND, GNC, GTR and GTN) in the western part of the Natura 2000 site Sylter Aussenriff from 1 March to 31 October, for protecting harbour porpoises from bycatch in phases of high aggregation during the mating and calving season;

—limitation of fishing activities with gillnets and entangling nets (GN, GNS, GND, GNC, GTR and GTN) to the average level in the last six years before the entry into force of this Delegated Regulation in two Natura 2000 sites (Borkum-Riffgrund and Doggerbank), for protecting harbour porpoises.

(13)On 17 June 2019, after having consulted the NSAC, the Netherlands together with Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and United Kingdom, submitted to the Commission three further joint recommendations regarding fisheries management measures in two Natura 2000 sites, NL2008002 Klaverbank SAC (Cleaver Bank), NL2016166 Friese Front SPA (Frisian Front), and in the Friese Front and Centrale Oestergronden (Frisian Front and Central Oyster Grounds) marine protected areas, in the North Sea. The joint recommendations contain fisheries management measures to protect reefs (habitat type 1170) from the impact of mobile bottom contacting gear in the Klaverbank (Cleaver Bank), to protect the common guillemot from being caught and/or killed in gillnets and entangling nets in the Friese Front (Frisian Front), and to protect substantial parts of the seabed from the impact of mobile bottom contacting gear. These measures will contribute to comply with the obligations under Article 6 of the Habitats Directive, Article 4 of the Birds Directive and Article 13(4) of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

(14)The STECF reviewed and assessed those joint recommendations in August 2019^note and concluded that the proposed conservation measures represent a positive step forward to avoid further degradation of the marine environment and to reduce the negative impacts of fishing activities on reefs, the common guillemot and substantial seabed areas. Although STECF stated that consideration should be given to introduce a total ban of gillnet and entangling net fisheries during the closure period, the fact that the intensity of the fishing activities cannot increase in the future will already have a positive influence on the habitats and species in the protected area. In addition, STECF expressed some concern regarding the effectiveness of the control, enforcement and monitoring of the proposed measures, which, in its view, could be further improved.

(15)The Commission asked for additional clarifications and invited the Scheveningen Group to consider further improvements of the proposed conservation measures. The requests of the Commission and the subsequent amendments were discussed with the Member States having a direct management interest and the revised joint recommendations were submitted to the Commission on 1 July 2021.

(16)The three joint recommendations submitted by the Netherlands as initiating Member State and the other Member States having a direct management interest propose the following management measures in two Natura 2000 sites (Klaverbank and Friese Front) and in the Friese Front and Centrale Oestergronden marine protected areas, in the North Sea:

—prohibition of fishing activities with mobile bottom contacting gear (TBB, OTB, OTT, PTB, TB, TBN, TBS, SX, SDN, SSC, SPR, SV, DRB and HMD) in certain management areas in the Natura 2000 site Klaverbank, for protecting reefs (habitat type 1170);

—limitation of fishing activities with gillnets and entangling nets (GN, GNS, GND, GNC, GTR and GTN) during the seasonal closure based on the average number of days at sea in the reference period 2012-2016 in the Natura 2000 site Friese Front, for protecting the common guillemot;

—prohibition of fishing activities with mobile bottom contacting gear (TBB, OTB, OTT, PTB, TB, TBN, TBS, SX, SDN, SSC, SPR, SV, DRB and HMD) in the Friese Front and in the Centrale Oestergronden marine protected areas, for protecting substantial parts of the seabed ecosystem.

(17)In all of the joint recommendations submitted by Germany and the Netherlands as initiating Member States and the other Member States having a direct management interest, the control and enforcement of fishing activities in the proposed management areas is performed mainly through the vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed on board of fishing vessels of 12 m length overall or more, in accordance with Article 9(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

(18)In addition to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, an additional control and enforcement measure is proposed considering the need to effectively track fishing vessels in the relatively small areas covered by some proposed management measures. The VMS reporting frequency in these areas should be increased to once every 10 minutes, in the absence of a general frequency reference for Marine Protected Areas.

(19)Both Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 and the joint recommendations submitted by Germany and by the Netherlands as initiating Member States cover only those bottom contacting gears that are mobile. Therefore and for the sake of clarity, that Regulation should be amended to define mobile bottom contacting gears.

(20)Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118 should therefore be amended accordingly to include the conservation measures proposed in the joint recommendation submitted by Germany on 17 June 2021 and in the three joint recommendations submitted by the Netherlands on 1 July 2021.

(21)The measures in this regulation applicable to Union waters are in pursuit of the objectives set out in Article 494(1) and (2) of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part^note, and have regard to the principles referred to in Article 494(3) of that agreement.

(22)This Delegated Regulation is without prejudice to the need for additional conservation measures necessary to comply with the relevant provisions of and the Commission’s position regarding compliance by the interested Member States with their obligations under the relevant Union environmental legislation,

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