THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2023/2053 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 establishing a multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, amending Regulations (EC) No 1936/2001, (EU) No 2017/2107, and (EU) 2019/833 and repealing Regulation (EU) 2016/1627 (1), and in particular Article 66, paragraph 1, point (c), thereof,

Whereas:

(1)	The Union is party to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), having approved the ICCAT Convention pursuant to Council Decision 86/238/EEC (2).

(2)	ICCAT adopts measures to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in the ICCAT Convention area and to safeguard the marine ecosystems in which these resources occur. Such measures may become binding upon the Union.

(3)	Since the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023/2053, ICCAT has adopted at its 2023 annual meeting a number of legally binding measures, in particular ICCAT recommendation 23-08 (3), in relation to the management of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean.

(4)	That measure should now be implemented into Union law. Therefore, Regulation (EU) 2023/2053 should be amended accordingly.

(5)	As the provisions 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 on the day following that of its publication,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2053, the following paragraph 4a is inserted after paragraph 4:

‘4a. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Spain may request in its annual fishing plan for 2024, as referred to in Article 11, that purse seine vessels involved in the pilot project for farming bluefin tuna in the Cantabrian Sea be allowed to fish for bluefin tuna in the Cantabrian Sea (ICES fishing area 27.8.b and 27.8.c) from 26 May until 30 September 2024.’.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 12 March 2024.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(2) Council Decision 86/238/EEC of 9 June 1986 on the accession of the Community to the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, as amended by the Protocol annexed to the Final Act of the Conference of Plenipotentiaries of the States Parties to the Convention signed in Paris on 10 July 1984 (OJ L 162, 18.6.1986, p. 33, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/1986/238/oj).