(1)

Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 aims to progressively eliminate discards in all Union fisheries through the introduction of a landing obligation for catches of species subject to catch limits.

(2)

Article 15(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 empowers the Commission to adopt discard plans by means of a delegated act for a period of no more than three years and renewable once on the basis of joint recommendations developed by Member States in consultation with the relevant Advisory Councils.

(3)

Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal have a direct fisheries management interest in the South-Western waters. After consulting the South Western Waters Advisory Council and the Pelagic Advisory Council, those Member States submitted on 2 June 2017 a joint recommendation to the Commission to extend the duration of de minimis exemptions established in the discard plan.

(4)

Following that recommendation and a positive evaluation provided by Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) (2), Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/188 (3) granted the extension of the de minimis exemption as regards catches of anchovy, mackerel and horse mackerel in International Council for the Exploration of the Sea ICES division 8 for otter trawls (OTM) and pair trawls (PTM) for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. That exemption had already been granted in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1394/2014 (4) for OTM and PTM for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 due to the reasoned argumentation on the difficulties to further increase selectivity.

(5)

Due to an error, PTM was unintentionally excluded in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/188 and the abovementioned Member States requested the Commission to correct the omission. The reference to just one gear should be deleted to cover all pelagic gears (OTM and PTM) as regards catches of anchovy, mackerel and horse mackerel.

(6)

Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1394/2014 should be amended accordingly.

(7)

As the measures provided for in this Regulation have a direct impact on the planning of the fishing season of Union vessels and on related economic activities, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication. Considering that Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/188 applies from 1 January 2018, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2020,

‘(c)

up to a maximum of 4 % in 2018, 2019 and 2020 of the total annual catches of anchovy, mackerel and horse mackerel in the pelagic trawl fishery which targets anchovy, mackerel and horse mackerel in ICES division 8 using pelagic trawls;’.