(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1838 (1) fixes for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea. It establishes spawning closure periods for the two Baltic cod stocks. Ensuring uninterrupted time series of comparable data on fish stocks is an essential element for the scientific assessment of those stocks. It is therefore appropriate to allow, during the respective closure periods, fishing operations conducted exclusively for the purpose of scientific investigation and in full compliance with the conditions set out in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2). Regulation (EU) 2019/1838 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(2)

Council Regulation (EU) 2020/123 (3) fixes for 2020 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union vessels, in certain non‐Union waters. It should be clarified that the restrictions set out in Article 10(6) of that Regulation apply to recreational fisheries including from shore.

(3)

At their annual meeting in July 2019, the Parties to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA) decided on bottom fishing measures and on fishing effort limitation in the SIOFA area. Those measures were implemented in Union law by Regulation (EU) 2020/123. At that meeting, the Parties to the SIOFA also agreed on five interim protected areas in which specific rules apply for fishing vessels in order to protect benthic ecosystems. Therefore, further changes should be made to that Regulation to ensure that implementing rules properly reflect the decisions taken by the Parties to the SIOFA.

(4)

The catch limits for sandeels in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) divisions 2a and 3a and ICES subarea 4 should be amended in line with the latest scientific advice from ICES, issued on 27 February 2019 and 27 February 2020.

(5)

At its annual meeting in November 2019, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) decided on new reporting obligations for tropical tunas. Member States are required to transmit data on monthly catches for large longline vessels (overall length of 20 metres and above) and for purse seiners fishing for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the Atlantic Ocean. When catches of bigeye tuna reach 80 % of the quota, Member States are required to transmit data on the catches for those vessels on a weekly basis.

(6)

Those measures should be implemented in Union law by amending accordingly the total allowable catch (TAC) tables for bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean set out in Regulation (EU) 2020/123.

(7)

Fishing effort limits for Union fishing vessels in the ICCAT Convention Area are based on information provided in the fishing capacity and farming plans for bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) communicated by Member States to the Commission. Those fishing effort limits are reported through the Union plan endorsed by ICCAT during the Intersessional meeting of Panel 2 held on 5 and 6 March 2020. They should be established as part of fishing opportunities.

(8)

Regulation (EU) 2020/123 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

The catch limits provided for in Regulations (EU) 2019/1838 and (EU) 2020/123 apply from 1 January 2020. The provisions on catch limits introduced by this amending Regulation should therefore also apply from that date. Such retroactive application is without prejudice to the principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations as the fishing opportunities concerned have not yet been exhausted.

(10)

The United Kingdom has been consulted in accordance with Article 130(1) of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community,

(a)

in Article 10, paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:

(b)

the following Article is inserted:

(c)

Article 30 is deleted;

(d)

Annexes IA, ID, IK and VI are amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.