(1)

Fishing quotas for the year 2023 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2022/2090 (2), (EU) 2023/194 (3) and (EU) 2023/195 (4).

(2)

Fishing quotas for the year 2024 have been established by Council Regulations (EU) 2023/194, (EU) 2023/2638 (5), (EU) 2024/257 (6) and (EU) 2024/259 (7).

(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) 2024/2407 (8) has established deductions from fishing quotas available for certain fish stocks in 2024 on account of overfishing in the previous years.

(5)

For certain Member States, namely Denmark, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, certain deductions could not be operated by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407 from fishing quotas allocated for the overfished stocks because quotas for these stocks are not available for those Member States in the year 2024.

(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 State concerned.

(7)

According to point 4 of the Communication from the Commission on guidelines for the deduction of quotas under Article 105(1), (2) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (9) (‘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 2024.

(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 Council (10) enabled full or partial deductions from the same stocks in the framework of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407.

(10)

Moreover, certain deductions provided for by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407 exceed the adapted quotas available in the year 2024 and, as a consequence, cannot be entirely operated in that year. In those cases, according to point 2 of the Guidelines, the deductions have been operated to the full extent of the available quota and the remaining amounts should be deducted from the adapted quota available in subsequent years until the full overfished amount is paid back.

(11)

In 2023, Germany overfished its quota for other species in Norwegian waters of 1 and 2 (OTH/1N2AB.) by 1,320 tonnes. Additionally, a deduction of 19,997 tonnes remains following the overfishing, by Germany, of its quota for OTH/1N2AB. in 2022, in accordance with point 2 of the Guidelines. By electronic mail dated 1 July 2024, Germany requested to spread the due deduction, namely 21,317 tonnes, over three years. Considering that, in accordance with point 3(b) of the Guidelines, a slower payback may be exceptionally possible where the stock concerned is caught in a mixed fishery and a significant loss of quota would prevent the exploitation of the associated species in that mixed fishery catch, this request can be accepted. Therefore, the annual deductions applicable to the German quota for OTH/1N2AB. amount to 7,106 tonnes in 2024 and 2025 and to 7,105 tonnes in 2026, without prejudice to any further quota adaptation.

(12)

Following changes in the stock area definition set up in Regulation (EU) 2024/257, the deduction applicable to Denmark for the overfishing of haddock in Union waters of 3a (HAD/*03A-C) in the year 2023 should now be applied on the 2024 quota for haddock in area 3a (HAD/*03A.).

(13)

Point 1 of the Guidelines states that, where applicable, the timeline for deductions in case of overfishing of a quota for stocks managed by regional fisheries management organisations is to be adapted to the timeline for deductions set in the regional fisheries management organisations concerned for these stocks. Recommendation 22-03 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) for the conservation of North Atlantic swordfish (11) provides that any excess of the annual adjusted quota in the year 2023 is to be deducted from the quota/catch limit for 2025. On this basis, deductions – including those resulting from applicable multiplying factors – on account of the overfishing in 2023 for the stock of swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, north of 5° N (SWO/AN05N), managed by ICCAT, should be applied in 2025. Consequently, the deduction established by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407 on account of the overfishing in 2023, by Portugal, of its quota for SWO/AN05N should be operated on its quota for 2025. Furthermore, the deduction to operate on account of the overfishing, in 2023, by France of the quota allocated to ‘Other Member States’ – including France – exclusively for the by-catches of swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, north of 5° N (SWO/AN05N_AMS) should be operated on the quota allocated to France for 2025.

(14)

Similarly, Recommendation 19-05 by ICCAT establishing a rebuilding programme for blue marlin (12) provides that any excess of the annual landings limits fixed for the year 2023 is to be deducted from the landings limits during 2025. Therefore, the deduction set by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407 on account of the overfishing in 2023, by Spain, of its quota for the stock of blue marlin in the Atlantic Ocean (BUM/ATLANT) should be applied on its quota for 2025.

(15)

In Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407, a typographic error occurred as regards the amount of the deduction applicable on account of the overfishing, by Poland, of the quota for mackerel in Union waters of 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d; United Kingdom waters of 2a; Union and United Kingdom waters of 4; Norwegian waters of 2a and 4a (MAC/2A34-N). The amount to be deducted should read 636,225 instead of 636,275 tonnes.

(16)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2407 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(17)

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,