The European Parliament adopted by 587 votes to 22 against, with 77 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU)

2016/1139 as regards the introduction of capacity limits for Eastern Baltic cod, data collection and control measures in the Baltic Sea, and Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 as regards permanent cessation for fleets fishing for Eastern Baltic cod.

The proposed regulation aims to provide financial support to fishermen affected by the closure of the Eastern Baltic cod fishery to permanently decommission their fishing vessels.

Parliament adopted its position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure by amending the Commission proposal as follows.

Reduction of fishing capacity for Eastern Baltic cod, Western Baltic cod and Western Baltic herring

Under the amended text, Member States which have adopted an action plan in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy for fleet segments which include fishing vessels that have targeted the three stocks concerned could implement measures for the permanent cessation of fishing activities in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 on the European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (EFAMF).

Support for measures for the permanent cessation should be granted only if the action plan sets out specific fishing capacity reduction targets for fishing vessels with fishing opportunities for one or more of the three stocks concerned.

The fishing capacity ceiling of a Member State implementing permanent cessation measures should decrease by an amount equal to the fishing capacity corresponding to the fishing vessels that are withdrawn with public aid.

Member States implementing the permanent cessation measures should communicate to the Commission the yearly average or the years 2015 to 2019 of the total fishing capacity of all fishing vessels with an allocation of fishing opportunities for any of the three stocks concerned. Moreover, Member States should also communicate to the Commission the total amount of fishing capacity withdrawn for fishing vessels with an allocation of fishing opportunities for any of the three stocks concerned.

Control of catches

Given the serious condition of the three stocks concerned, the amended text foresees that Member States should enhance monitoring and control of vessels with by-catch quota for Eastern Baltic cod or with fishing opportunities for Western Baltic cod or Western Baltic herring. Furthermore, the threshold quantity as of which a fishing vessel is required to send prior notification of landing and to land its catch in a specific place should be reduced to 250 kilograms for Eastern Baltic cod and Western Baltic cod.

PURPOSE: to provide financial support to fishermen affected by the closure of the Eastern Baltic cod fishery to permanently decommission their fishing vessels.

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: the Baltic Sea ecosystem has been fragile for decades. However, it was only in 2019 that the scientists warned about the impact of environmental conditions on Eastern Baltic cod. This situation is leading to a steep decline in this species and even in the total absence of fishing activities, the Eastern Baltic cod stock is not expected to recover until 2024.

Therefore given the above situation, this year, acting upon the best available scientific advice and in accordance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy and the Multiannual Plan for the Baltic Sea established by Regulation (EU) 2016/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Commission adopted first emergency measures in July 2019 prohibiting the fishing of Eastern Baltic cod until year-end; and secondly, the Council decided in October 2019 on necessary and unprecedented fishing restrictions for 2020.

Commission analysis shows that the fleet segments with the highest dependency on Eastern Baltic cod encompass more than 300 vessels, mainly trawlers and netters in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, and to a lesser extent Denmark. These fleet segments are of significant socioeconomic importance, representing between roughly 20% and 50% of the respective national fleet in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, expressed in full-time equivalents. Of these, only a minority seem resilient enough to survive a short-term – but not a medium or long-term – closure.

The Commission has therefore concluded that urgent measures are needed in this sector. Support for the permanent cessation of activities through ship scrapping has been granted until the end of 2017 under the European Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fund (EAMF) established by Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council . This proposal would reintroduce this measure, under new and strict conditions, for the Eastern Baltic cod fleet until the end of the current FEAMP period (2014-2020).

CONTENT: the proposal to amend Regulations (EU) 2016/1139 and (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council provides the following:

Financial assistance of the EMFF

The proposal aims to allow Member States affected by the exceptional situation of Eastern Baltic cod to grant financial support for achieving and maintaining a balance between the fleet capacity and the fishing opportunities by making financial support for permanent cessation of fishing activities through scrapping eligible under the EMFF 2014-2022.

These Member States would have the possibility to redirect available appropriations for storage aid and Integrated Maritime Policy inside the financial envelope of each Member State to the permanent cessation of fishing activities with a view to reinforce the need to scrap vessels, while at the same time not negatively impacting the achievements of other CFP objectives and the implementation of the EMFF.

Aid for the permanent cessation of fishing activities shall only be granted for the scrapping of fishing vessels. It shall not be granted for the retroffiting of fishing vessels for activities other than commercial fishing, such as recreational fishing, that have a detrimental impact on the ecosystem.

Reduction capacity

According to ICES advice, approximately 70% of the cod landings in subdivisions 24-28 were taken by trawlers with a BACOMA with a 120 mm escape window or T90, and 15% of the cod landings were taken by gillnetters with mesh sizes between 110 mm and 156 mm.

Under this proposal, the Member State capacity level of these two fleet segments shall be capped at levels of active vessels in the most recent years before the application of emergency measures, i.e. 2017 and 2018, and shall be reduced when vessels are withdrawn with public aid, with the aim of rebuilding the stock of Eastern Baltic cod.

Monitoring of cod catches

Given the serious condition of the Eastern Baltic cod stock additional measures to control the fisheries catching Eastern Baltic cod should be introduced. The threshold quantity as of which a fishing vessel is required to land its catch in a specific place should be reduced to 250kg. Masters of fishing vessels having quotas for cod and fishing in areas where Eastern Baltic cod is present are to ensure that their fishing activity can be monitored at any time by the national competent authorities.

From 2020 onwards, vessels fishing for cod in the Eastern Baltic shall be equipped with a satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS) or other equivalent electronic monitoring system. In order to improve data collection, the observer coverage shall reach at least 20% for vessels catching Eastern Baltic cod.