Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2480 of 10 November 2023 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2023 in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2480of 10 November 2023operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2023 in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 on account of overfishing of other stocks in the previous years and amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Union control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1., and in particular Article 105(1), (2), (3) and (5) thereof,Whereas:(1)Fishing quotas for the year 2022 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2021/91Council Regulation (EU) 2021/91 of 28 January 2021 fixing, for the years 2021 and 2022, the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 31, 29.1.2021, p. 20)., (EU) 2021/1888Council Regulation (EU) 2021/1888 of 27 October 2021 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/92 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 384, 29.10.2021, p. 1)., (EU) 2022/109Council Regulation (EU) 2022/109 of 27 January 2022 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and for Union fishing vessels in certain non-Union waters (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 1). and (EU) 2022/110Council Regulation (EU) 2022/110 of 27 January 2022 fixing for 2022 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (OJ L 21, 31.1.2022, p. 165)..(2)Fishing quotas for the year 2023 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2022/2090Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2090 of 27 October 2022 fixing the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea for 2023 and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/109 as regards certain fishing opportunities in other waters (OJ L 281, 31.10.2022, p. 1)., (EU) 2023/194Council Regulation (EU) 2023/194 of 30 January 2023 fixing for 2023 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, as well as fixing for 2023 and 2024 such fishing opportunities for certain deep-sea fish stocks (OJ L 28, 31.1.2023, p. 1). and (EU) 2023/195Council Regulation (EU) 2023/195 of 30 January 2023 fixing for 2023 the fishing opportunities for certain stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Mediterranean and Black Seas and amending Regulation (EU) 2022/110 as regards the fishing opportunities for 2022 applicable in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas (OJ L 28, 31.1.2023, p. 220)..(3)Pursuant to Article 105(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, when the Commission has established that a Member State has exceeded the fishing quotas which have been allocated to it, the Commission is to operate deductions from future fishing quotas of that Member State.(4)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661 of 24 August 2023 operating deductions from fishing quotas available for certain stocks in 2023 on account of overfishing in the previous years (OJ L 210, 25.8.2023, p. 23). has established deductions from fishing quotas available for certain fish stocks in 2023 on account of overfishing in the previous years.(5)For certain Member States, namely Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland, certain deductions could not be operated by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661 from fishing quotas allocated for the overfished stocks because quotas for these stocks are not available for those Member States in the year 2023.(6)Article 105(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 provides that, if it is not possible to operate deductions on the overfished stock in the year following the overfishing because the Member State concerned has no available quota for that fish stock, deductions may be operated on other stocks in the same geographical area or with the same commercial value, following consultations with the Member States concerned.(7)According to Communication from the Commission 2022/C 369/03 on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009Communication from the Commission on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, and replacing Communication 2012/C 72/07 (2022/C 369/03) (OJ C 369, 27.9.2022, p. 3). ("the Guidelines"), such deductions should be preferably operated from quotas allocated for stocks fished by the same fleet as the fleet that overfished the quota.(8)The Member States concerned have been consulted as regards certain deductions from fishing quotas allocated for stocks other than those which have been overfished. It is therefore appropriate to operate deductions from those alternative fishing quotas allocated to those Member States in 2023.(9)In certain cases, exchanges of fishing opportunities concluded in accordance with Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (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 (OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22). enable deductions from the same stocks in the framework of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661.(10)Moreover, certain deductions provided for by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661 exceed the adapted quota available in the year 2023 and, as a consequence, cannot be entirely operated in that year. According to the Guidelines, the remaining amounts should be deducted from the adapted quotas available in subsequent years until the full overfished amount is paid back.(11)Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1661 should therefore be amended accordingly.(12)The afore-mentioned Guidelines replaced Communication 2012/C 72/07 to adapt, where applicable, the timeline for deductions in case of overfishing of a quota for stocks managed by regional fisheries management organisations to the timeline for deductions set in the regional fisheries management organisations concerned for these stocks. Recommendation 21-01 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) on a multiannual conservation and management programme for tropical tunasRecommendation 21-01 by ICCAT replacing Recommendation 19-02 replacing Recommendation 16-01 on a multi-annual conservation and management programme for tropical tunas. as well as Recommendation 22-03 by ICCAT for the conservation of North Atlantic swordfishRecommendation 22-03 by ICCAT replacing supplemental recommendation 21-02 extending and amending Recommendation 17-02 for the conservation of North Atlantic swordfish. establish that any excess of the annual adjusted quota in the year 2022 are to be deducted from the respective quota/catch limit for 2024. On this basis, deductions – including those resulting from applicable multiplying factors – on account of overfishing by Portugal established in 2022 for the stock of bigeye tuna in the Atlantic Ocean (BET/ATLANT) and the stock of swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, north of 5° N (SWO/AN05N), both managed by ICCAT, should only be applied in 2024.(13)Further updates or corrections may still occur following the detection, for the current or previous exercises, of errors, omissions or misreporting in the catch figures declared by the Member States pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: