(1)

Council Regulation (EU) 2023/194 (1) fixes for 2023 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters. The total allowable catches (TACs) set by Regulation (EU) 2023/194 should be amended to take into account the publication of scientific advice as well as the outcomes of consultations with third countries.

(2)

Regulation (EU) 2023/194 sets a provisional TAC for Northern prawn (Pandalus borealis) in Union and Norwegian waters of ICES division 3a for 2023. The Union and Norway held consultations on the level of the TAC for Northern prawn in ICES division 3a and 4a East for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. Those consultations were conducted on the basis of the Union position endorsed by the Council on 12 June 2023. On 29 June 2023, the Union and Norway agreed on a TAC in ICES division 3a and 4a East of 6 076 tonnes, of which 4 253 tonnes are to be allocated to ICES division 3a. That TAC level corresponds to what the level of the ICES advice for that stock for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 would have been had the advice been based on the assumption that fishing opportunities were not fully utilised in the first half of 2023 and that 900 tonnes remained unfished on 1 July 2023. According to the catch figures provided by the Union and Norway, that later assumption matches the fishing opportunities uptake level on 1 July 2023. In order to transition from the setting of a TAC for Northern prawn in ICES division 3a twice per year to once per year: (i) the provisional TAC for that stock for 2023 should be replaced by a definitive TAC for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2023 at the level agreed with Norway on 17 March 2023, and (ii) the TAC for that stock for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 should be set at the level agreed with Norway on 29 June 2023.

(3)

Regulation (EU) 2023/194 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

In order to allow fishing to continue, this Regulation should enter into force without delay.

(5)

The provisions of this Regulation concerning fishing opportunities for Northern prawn should apply from 1 January 2023 and 1 July 2023 respectively. Such retroactive application does not affect the principles of legal certainty and protection of legitimate expectations, as the fishing opportunities concerned are either increased or have not yet been exhausted,