(1)

Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 prohibits the use of towed gears within 3 nautical miles of the coast or within the 50 m isobath where that depth is reached at a shorter distance from the coast.

(2)

At the request of a Member State, the Commission is to allow a derogation from the first subparagraph of Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006, provided that the conditions set out in Article 13(5) and (9) of that Regulation are fulfilled.

(3)

The Commission allowed such a derogation for the use of boat seines fishing transparent goby (Aphia minuta) within the Spanish territorial waters of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia for the first time until 31 December 2016 by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 773/2013 (2). Several extensions of that derogation were granted, last by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2230 (3) and that extension is to expire on 1 March 2026.

(4)

On 17 October 2025, the Commission received from Spain a request to extend the derogation granted by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2230. Spain provided a management plan (4) and a report on the monitoring and implementation of the management plan, justifying the extension of the derogation, in light of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).

(5)

During its 80th plenary session held in November 2025, the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) (6) assessed the request to further extend the derogation and the implementation and monitoring report. STECF concluded that the conditions for further extension for a period of three years of the derogation as regards the minimum distance from the coast and the minimum sea depth for boat seines fishing for transparent goby in the Spanish territorial waters of the Autonomous Community of Murcia are fulfilled. Following STECF’s recommendations, Spain has committed (7) to undertake dedicated studies in order to evaluate the spatial overlap between Posidonia oceanica and fishing grounds and provide robust evidence for the limited impact on Posidonia seagrass beds.

(6)

The derogation requested by Spain complies with the conditions laid down in Article 13(5) and (9) of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006.

(7)

In particular, there are specific geographical constraints given the limited size of the continental shelf and the limited extend of the trawlable fishing grounds, as the target species is exclusively limited to certain zones in the coastal areas at depths of less than 50 meters.

(8)

Moreover, the management plan guarantees no future increase in the fishing effort. Fishing authorisations will only be issued to a maximum of 27 vessels that are already authorised to fish and listed in the management plan, involving a maximum capacity of 116 Hp per vessel.

(9)

The fishery has no significant impact on the marine environment, since boat seines are hauled in the water column and do not touch the seabed. Due to the use of echo sounders, the fishery is highly selective with few bycatches. Besides, unwanted catches are immediately released alive with very high survivability.

(10)

Boat seines do not target cephalopods.

(11)

The fishery cannot be undertaken with another gear, as boat seines are the only regulated gear allowed to capture species of a size as small as transparent goby and with a schooling behaviour in shallow coastal waters.

(12)

The request concerns fishing activities already authorised by Spain, for vessels that are registered in the Spanish National Operational Fishing Fleet Census and have a track record in the fishery of more than five years.

(13)

The fishery concerned fulfils the requirements of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006, since the fishery does not operate above seagrass beds, in particular of Posidonia oceanica or other marine phanerogams.

(14)

The management plan adopted by Spain includes measures for the monitoring of the fishery.

(15)

Spain has previously authorised a derogation from the minimum mesh size laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 on the basis of the fulfilment of the requirements of Article 9(7) of that Regulation given the highly selective nature of the fisheries concerned, its negligible effect on the marine environment and the fact that the prohibition of subparagraph 1 of Article 4(1) of that Regulation applies.

(16)

As regards the conditions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 and although Article 9 of that Regulation was deleted by Regulation (EU) 2019/1241, point 4 of Part B of Annex IX to the latter allows, on the basis of conditions referred to in its Article 15(5), to continue to apply derogations from minimum mesh sizes which were issued within the framework of Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 and which were in force on 14 August 2019.

(17)

The derogation extension requested by Spain complies with the conditions laid down in Article 15(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 and point 4 of Part B of Annex IX to that Regulation, as it does not lead to a deterioration of selectivity standards, in particular in terms of an increase in the catches of juveniles and aims at achieving the objectives and targets set out in Articles 3 and 4 of that Regulation.

(18)

The fishery concerned is regulated in the management plan adopted by Spain to ensure that catches of species mentioned in Annex IX to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 are minimal.

(19)

The fishing activities concerned fulfil the recording requirements laid down in Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (8).

(20)

The fishery concerned takes place at a very short distance from the coast and therefore does not interfere with the fishing activities of other vessels.

(21)

The requested derogation should therefore be granted.

(22)

A limitation in the duration of the derogation will allow ensuring prompt corrective management measures in case the monitoring of the management plan shows a poor conservation status of the exploited stock, while providing scope to enhance the scientific basis for an improved management plan. The end of the derogation should be fixed at the end of the fishing season, thus 15 March 2029.

(23)

Since the derogation granted by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2230 expired on 1 March 2026, in order to ensure legal continuity this Regulation should apply from 2 March 2026.

(24)

For reasons of legal certainty, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency.

(25)

This Regulation is without prejudice to the Commission’s position regarding compliance of the activity covered by this derogation with other Union legislation, in particular Council Directive 92/43/EEC (9).

(26)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

(a)

they are registered in the maritime census managed by the Directorate-General for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia;

(b)

they have a track record in the fishery of more than five years and do not involve any future increase in fishing effort provided;

(c)

they hold a fishing authorisation and operate under the management plan adopted by Spain in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006.