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Document 52008AP0487

Recovery of cod stocks *European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2008 on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 423/2004 as regards the recovery of cod stocks and amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 (COM(2008)0162 — C6-0183/2008 — 2008/0063(CNS)

OJ C 15E, 21.1.2010, p. 112–117 (BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)

21.1.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 15/112


Tuesday 21 October 2008
Recovery of cod stocks *

P6_TA(2008)0487

European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2008 on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 423/2004 as regards the recovery of cod stocks and amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 (COM(2008)0162 — C6-0183/2008 — 2008/0063(CNS))

2010/C 15 E/30

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2008)0162),

having regard to Article 37 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0183/2008),

having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A6-0340/2008),

1.

Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.

Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty;

3.

Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4.

Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5.

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

TEXT PROPOSED BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Recital 1

(1)

Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has indicated that the reductions in cod catches arising from the collective effect of total allowable landings (TACs), technical measures and complementary effort management measures have been far from sufficient to reduce fishing mortalities to levels required to allow the cod stocks to rebuild and none of the four cod stocks covered by Regulation (EC) No 423/2004 show clear signs of recovery.

(1)

Recent scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has indicated that the reductions in cod catches arising from the collective effect of total allowable landings (TACs), technical measures and complementary effort management measures (including monitoring and control to prevent the catching and landing of cod caught by illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing) have been far from sufficient to reduce fishing mortalities to levels required to allow the cod stocks to rebuild and none of the four cod stocks covered by Regulation (EC) No 423/2004 show clear signs of recovery, although stocks in the North and Celtic Seas are showing some signs of improvement .

Amendment 2

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Recital 4a (new)

 

(4a)

Effective fisheries management mechanisms should be developed in cooperation with the fishing industry. To this end, evaluation and decision-making should involve the relevant Regional Advisory Councils and Member States.

Amendment 3

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Recital 5

(5)

New mechanisms must be introduced, to encourage fishermen to engage in cod-avoidance programmes.

(5)

New mechanisms must be introduced, to encourage fishermen and Member States to engage in cod-avoidance programmes. All cod caught ought to be landed, rather than discarded, so as to enable proper scientific evaluation of stocks.

Amendment 4

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Recital 5a (new)

 

(5a)

Any such cod-avoidance programmes are more likely to succeed if they are developed in cooperation with the fishing industry; accordingly, cod-avoidance programmes developed within Member States should be considered an effective means of promoting sustainability, and the development of such programmes should be encouraged alongside the operation of the relevant Community legislation.

Amendment 5

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Recital 5b (new)

 

(5b)

Member States should exercise their power to allocate access to fishing for cod stocks so as to encourage their fishermen to fish in ways that result in more selective fishing and are less harmful to the environment.

Amendment 6

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 1

Regulation (EC) No. 423/2004

Article 2b — point ba (new)

 

(ba)

when cod stocks have substantially improved, the Commission should review the system of regulating the fishing effort.

Amendment 7

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 3

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 6 — paragraph 4

4.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1 (b) and (c) and paragraph 2, the Council shall not set the TAC at a level that is more than 15 % below or above the TAC established in the previous year.

4.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1 and paragraph 2, the Council shall not set the TAC at a level that is more than 15 % below or above the TAC established in the previous year.

Amendment 8

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 3

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 6 — paragraph 5 — point b

(b)

as appropriate a quantity corresponding to other relevant sources of cod mortality to be fixed on the basis of a proposal from the Commission.

(b)

an appropriate quantity suggested by other relevant sources of cod mortality, such as scientific analysis evaluating the amount of cod being killed by seals, together with an assessment of the impact of climate change on cod recovery, to be fixed on the basis of a proposal from the Commission.

Amendment 9

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 3

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 7 — paragraph 1

1.    Each three years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall request STECF to evaluate the progress of each of the depleted cod stocks towards recovery .

1.    Every three years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall request STECF to evaluate the progress towards recovery of each depleted cod stock. In addition, the Commission shall seek the views of the relevant Regional Advisory Councils and Member States as to the effective management of cod stocks.

Amendment 10

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Chapter IV — title

Amendment 11

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8a — paragraph 2 — point a

(a)

for the first year of application of this Regulation the baseline shall be established as the average effort in kW-days spent during the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 , based on the advice of STECF.

(a)

for the first year of application of this Regulation the baseline shall be established as the average effort in kW-days spent during the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 , based on the advice of STECF.

Amendment 12

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8a — paragraph 3 — introductory part

3.   For effort groups which on the basis of the annual evaluation of the fishing effort management data submitted in accordance with Articles 18, 19 and 20 of Regulation (EC) No …/2008 have contributed most to the total catch of cod and whose total catch on basis of that evaluation consists by at least 80 % of cod, the maximum allowable fishing effort shall be calculated as follows:

3.   For effort groups which on the basis of the annual evaluation of the fishing effort management data submitted in accordance with Articles 18, 19 and 20 of Regulation (EC) No …/2008 have contributed most to the total catch of cod overall and whose accumulated catches on basis of that evaluation consists by at least 80 % of cod, the maximum allowable fishing effort shall be calculated as follows:

Amendment 13

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8a — paragraph 3 — point a

(a)

where Article 6 applies, by applying to the baseline the same percentage reduction as that set out in Article 6 for fishing mortality;

(a)

where Article 6 applies, by applying to the baseline the same percentage change as that set out in Article 6 for fishing mortality;

Amendment 14

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8b — paragraph 1 — introductory part

1.   For the vessels flying its flag, each Member State shall decide on a method for allocating the maximum allowable fishing effort to individual vessels, based on the following criteria:

1.   For the vessels flying its flag, each Member State shall decide on a method for allocating the maximum allowable fishing effort to individual vessels, in the light of a number of criteria, including, for example :

Amendment 15

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8b — paragraph 3

3.     For each effort group, the total capacity expressed both in GT and kW of the vessels having special fishing permits issued in accordance with paragraph 2 shall not be greater than the capacity of the vessels that have been active in 2007 using the gear and fishing in the geographical area concerned.

deleted

Amendment 16

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8d — introductory part

The maximum allowable fishing effort established in accordance with Article 8a shall be adapted by the Member States concerned in view of:

The maximum allowable fishing effort established in accordance with Article 8a may be adapted by the Member States concerned in view of:

Amendment 17

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 8e — paragraph 3

3.   The transfer shall only be allowed from a donor gear grouping having shown, for cod, a catch per unit effort (cpue) larger that the cpue of the receiving gear grouping. The Member State requesting the transfer shall provide the necessary cpue information.

3.   The transfer shall only be allowed in principle from a donor gear grouping having shown, for cod, a catch per unit effort (cpue) larger that the cpue of the receiving gear grouping. Where a transfer is from one donor gear grouping to another donor gear grouping with a higher cpue, the effort transferred shall be subject to a reduction in the form of a more specifically defined correction factor. The Member State requesting the transfer shall provide the necessary cpue information.

Amendment 18

Proposal for a regulation — amending act

Article 1 — point 6

Regulation (EC) No 423/2004

Article 17

Article 17

Decision-making procedure

Where this Regulation provides for decisions to be taken by the Council, the Council shall act by qualified majority on the basis of a proposal from the Commission.

deleted


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