Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/856

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 15(2) thereof,Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 provides for the landing of all catches of species which are subject to catch limits (‘the landing obligation’). Article 15 of that Regulation covers fishing activities in Union waters or by Union fishing vessels outside Union waters not falling under third countries’ sovereignty or jurisdiction.

(2)Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2910^note implements the Union’s international obligations in the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) Agreement area of application in accordance with Article 15(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 by providing a series of derogations to the obligation to land fish, in compliance with Recommendations adopted during the annual meetings of the GFCM.

(3)At the 47th General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean annual meeting held from 4 to 8 November 2024, the GFCM Contracting Parties adopted Recommendation GFCM/47/2024/8. Paragraph 2 of that Recommendation prohibits the retaining on board, transhipping, transferring, landing, storing, selling and displaying of turbot in the Black Sea of a size less than 45 cm, measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail fin.

(4)In order to ensure consistency between that Recommendation and Union law, the landing obligation in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 should not apply to Union vessels participating in the fisheries covered by that recommendation.

(5)Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2910 should therefore be amended to take account of the decision taken in GFCM.

(6)Since this prohibition currently applies in the GFCM Agreement area of application, in order to ensure legal continuity this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication,

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