52016DC0207

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 15.4.2016

COM(2016) 207 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on the operation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1185/2003 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 605/2013, and on the international developments in this field

Report to the European Parliament and to the Council

On the operation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1185/2003 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels, as amended by Regulation (EU) No 605/2013, and on the international developments in this field

1.Basis for this report

Council Regulation (EC) 1185/2003 1 on the removal of fins of sharks on board vessels established a general prohibition of the practice of shark finning, i.e. the removal of a shark’s fins and the discarding of the remaining carcass at sea. Under this Regulation Member States could issue special fishing permits for the processing of sharks on board. To prevent finning, the Regulation established a so-called fin-to-carcass ratio for processed sharks.

This Regulation was amended by Regulation (EU) 605/2013. 2 Article 6 of the latter stipulates: “Where vessels flying the flag of a Member State catch, retain on-board, tranship or land sharks, the flag Member State […] shall send to the Commission, annually […] a comprehensive report on its implementation of this Regulation […]. After the submission […] of their second annual report […], the Commission shall, by 1 January 2016, report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the operation of this Regulation and the international developments in this field.” This report fulfils the reporting requirement.

2.Member States’ reporting

Use of special fishing permits until 2013

Under Regulation (EC) 1185/2003, Member States that allowed the removal of fins from dead sharks on board had to report to the Commission the number of special permits they issued for this purpose each year. An overview of the permits issued by Member States that made use of this possibility under the old Regulation is presented in Table 1 and in Figure 1 in the Annex.

Member States' reporting for 2013 and 2014

Where vessels flying the flag of a Member State catch, retain on-board, tranship or land sharks, each year the flag Member State has to submit a report to the Commission on its implementation of the Regulation during the previous year. This includes a description of its monitoring and enforcement of the compliance with the Regulation and, in particular, information on:

the number of times sharks were landed,

the number, date and place of the inspections,

the number and nature of cases of non-compliance as well as the penalty applied,

and the total landings by species (weight/number) and by port.

Three coastal Member States – Croatia, Italy and Romania – did not submit any reports for either 2013 or 2014; 3 several others only submitted a report on their implementation of the Regulation in either 2013 or 2014. An overview of the information reported by all Member States is given in Table 2 in the Annex; these reports are available online if the Member State concerned did not object the publication. 4

In volume, seven Member States report landings of more than 50 tonnes in 2013, with two Member States standing out (Spain, with over 60,000 tonnes, and France, with over 15,000 tonnes). Half of the Member States that previously had issued special fishing permits to allow on-board processing of sharks did not report any catches of sharks by their fleets.

Spain and Portugal have the highest ratios of volumes per landing (Table 3, Figure 2). For 2013 a breakdown of reported volumes by species and Member States is given in Table 4. Looking specifically at blue shark – a species for whose fins there is a market – the Spanish and Portuguese fleets have the largest shares in volumes (Figure 3).

Regarding the frequency of inspections, there is some heterogeneity between Member States (Table 5, Figure 4). For instance in 2013 Malta reported an average of 84 inspections per 100 landings while France reported 0.2. Among Member States who previously had issued special fishing permits for the on-board processing of sharks, Lithuania and Estonia did not report any inspections of fishing vessels.

Over 4,400 inspections were reported for 2013, during which four cases of infringements were found: Cyprus reported a case of a blue shark without fins found on a vessel, France a case of shark finning by a Venezuelan vessel, Spain a case of shark finning by a Portuguese vessel, and the United Kingdom a case of skinning of two sharks on sea.

Spain submitted additional information with an assessment of the financial impacts of the Regulation on the Spanish longline fleet.4 Using the reported adaptation costs to the requirements of the new Regulation, an analysis of the relevant fleet segments by the Commission services indicates that the largest fleet segment (in terms of number of vessels and employment) can continue operating with reasonable profit margins. For segments currently already operating with losses, the adaptation costs may exacerbate their financial problems.

3.International developments

To improve the conservation of sharks and to promote a level playing field for the Union fleets, the Commission has been and continues to promote fins-naturally-attached policies in regional fishery organisations and bodies, such as the North-east Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), and relevant international fora.

The EU is also a key promotor of the UN General Assembly Resolution on Sustainable Fisheries, 5 which calls upon states to take immediate and concerted action to improve the implementation of and compliance with existing RFMO or arrangement measures that regulate shark fisheries and incidental catch of sharks.

4.Conclusion

Member States’ submission of annual reports as stipulated by the Regulation has been incomplete in that only 14 out of 23 coastal Member States submitted full reports on their implementation of the Regulation in both 2013 and 2014, while three coastal Member States did not submit any report, in spite of numerous reminders by the Commission. However, all Member States that in the past had issued special fishing permits for on-board processing of sharks submitted at least one report on their implementation of the Regulation. Member States reported the data also to different extents and in different formats.

With the caveat that the data are incomplete, the reporting can be useful for drawing some limited conclusions. The submitted reports suggest that large-scale shark fisheries are mainly done by vessels of two Member States. The number of infringements identified during the inspections carried out by the Member States that provided the required data to the Commission, including the two key Member States, appear to be a very limited.

The Commission is aware of the concerns raised in one of the Member States’ reports, which are similar to those raised by some Member States and stakeholders during the previous public consultation, 6 that the implementation of the Regulation complicates the handling of the carcasses and imposes additional costs on the vessels concerned. 7 It will continue monitoring the situation and its economic consequences. Such difficulties may be addressed to a certain extent by existing instruments, including those of the EMFF, 8 to help find practical solutions to the alleged difficulties. The Commission also believes that it is important to pursue the active promotion of fins-naturally-attached policies at the international level in line with the request of the Council to increase international support that contributes to a more level playing field, even if the EU proposals are not adopted.

(1) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32003R1185

(2) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32013R0605

(3) However, Italy included in its Annual report for 2013 on the protection of cetaceans against incidental catches an indication that its monitoring programme also covered by-catches of sharks, reporting a “high number” in the northern and central Adriatic Sea.

(4) http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/marine_species/wild_species/sharks/member-states-reports/index_en.htm

(5) http://www.un.org/documents/resga.htm Adopted annually by consensus since 2007: A/RES/62/177, -63/112, -64/72, -65/38, -66/68, -67/79, -68/71 and -69/109:

(6) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52011SC1392

(7) Article 3 of the Regulation allows “to facilitate on-board storage, shark fins may be partially sliced through and folded against the carcass.”

(8) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32014R0508

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 15.4.2016

COM(2016) 207 final

ANNEX

to the

REPORT TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND TO THE COUNCIL

Annexe: Tables and Figures

The limited number of reports received for 2014 does not allow for meaningful visual presentation of the data, therefore the Figures only illustrate the situation in 2013.

Table 1: Special permits issued by Member States between 2004 and 2012
under the old Regulation (EC) 1185/2003

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2004-12
Coastal Member States that issued special fishing permits (ordered by total number of permits issued)
Spain	198	192	164	173	200	175	164	181	141	1,588
Portugal	11	12	28	NR	NR	49	45	47	46	238
United Kingdom	20	16	18	15	15	0	0	NR	NR	84
Germany	3	5	5	5	5	0	0	0	0	23
Lithuania	0	1	1	1	1	0	NR	NR	NR	4
Estonia	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR	2
Cyprus	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	NR	1
Total	234	226	216	194	221	224	210	228	187	1,940
Coastal Member States that did not report or issue special fishing permits (ordered alphabetically)
Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	0	NR
Bulgaria	nMS	nMS	nMS	0	NR	0	0	0	0
Croatia	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS	nMS
Denmark	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR	NR
Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR
France	0	0	0	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Greece	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR
Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	0	NR
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR	NR	NR
Latvia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR
Malta	0	0	0	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	NR	NR	0	NR
Poland	0	0	0	0	0	NR	0	NR	NR
Romania	nMS	nMS	nMS	0	0	0	0	NR	NR
Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0	NR	0	NR
Sweden	0	0	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

Notes: “NR” = no report submitted to the Commission; “nMS” = country had not been an EU Member State yet; No statistics were kept for landlocked Member States (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxemburg, Slovakia).

Figure 1: Special permits issued by Member States between 2004 and 2012
under the old Regulation (EC) 1185/2003

Notes: For the underlying data see Table 1 .

Table 2: Coastal Member States’ reporting since 2013
under the new Regulation (EU) 605/2013

	2013					2014
	Landings (no.)		Landings (tonnes)	Inspections (no.)	Cases (no.)	Landings (no.)	Landings (tonnes)	Inspections (no.)	Cases (no.)
Coastal Member States that had issued special fishing permits in the past (ordered by total number of permits)
Spain	26,394		61,572	204	1 b	32,082	59,251	131	0
Portugal	5,632		8,218	676	0	no report submitted c
United Kingdom	8,572		289	1,025	1	14,313	1,634	1,184	1
Germany	10		0.3	6	0	25	1.8	7	0
Lithuania	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Estonia	0		0	0	0	3 e	246 e	3	0
Cyprus	381		3.9	3	1	312	11.2	0	0 f
Coastal Member States that had not reported or issued special fishing permits in the past (ordered alphabetically)
Belgium	4,783		483	102	0	n/a	527	83	0
Bulgaria	247		31	81	0	no report submitted c
Croatia	no report submitted c					no report submitted c
Denmark	428		21	29	0	no report submitted c
Finland	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	261,040		16,085	480	1 d	no report submitted c
Greece	report incomplete c					179	(3,630) g	0	0
Ireland	4,310	1,367		1,490	0	4,303	1,437	1,274	0
Italy	no report submitted c					no report submitted c
Latvia	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Malta	345		20	291	0	no report submitted c
Netherlands	n/a		79 h	0	0	n/a	77 h	0	0
Poland	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Romania	no report submitted c					no report submitted c
Slovenia	457		1.7	27	0	444	1.9	46	0
Sweden	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	312,599		88,170	4,414	4	51,661	63,186	2,728	1

Notes: b Case related to a vessel under the flag of another Member State. c Member States that did not submit reports or that submitted incomplete had been requested by the Commission to provide the missing information but did not do so before the finalisation of this report. d Case related to a vessel under the flag of a third country. e In its report for 2014 Estonia had also included two landings in 2015, which were not considered in this report. Estonia reported and confirmed the landing of 231 tonnes of rays by one of its vessels on one day alone. f Cyprus reported three cases, but these related to the landing of prohibited species, not to finning. g Greece reported the number of landed sharks, not their weight; their data has therefore not been taken into account for the other tables and figures. h The Netherlands did not report the number of landings; their data has therefore not been taken into account for the other tables and figures.

Table 3: Reported shark landings and volume by Member States in 2013 and 2014

	2013			2014
	Landings (no.)	Landings (tonnes)	Kg per landing	Landings (no.)	Landings (tonnes)	Kg per landing
Spain	26,394	61,572	2,333	32,082	59,251	1,847
Portugal	5,632	8,218	1,459	n/a	n/a	n/a
Ireland	4,310	1,367	317	4,303	1,437	334
Bulgaria	247	31	125	n/a	n/a	n/a
Belgium	4,783	483	101	n/a	527	n/a
France	261,040	16,085	62	n/a	n/a	n/a
Malta	345	20	57	n/a	n/a	n/a
Denmark	428	21	49	n/a	n/a	n/a
United Kingdom	8,572	289	34	14,313	1,634	114
Germany	10	0.3	31	25	1.8	71
Cyprus	381	3.9	10	312	11.2	36
Slovenia	457	1.7	4	444	1.9	4
Estonia	0	0	0	3	246	81,999
Total	312,599	88,170	282	51,482	62,582	1,222

Notes: Based on Table 2 .

Figure 2: Reported shark landings and volume by Member States in 2013

Notes: For the underlying data see Table 3 .

Table 4: Reported landing volumes (in tonnes) in 2013 by selected species

	BE	BG	CY	DE	DK	ES	FR	IE	MT	NL	PT	UK	Total
ALV							39.8						40
BSH			255			14,962	223	1.9	2.6		6,420	199	22,064
CMO							266						266
CWZ			19.0										19
DGH						0.3	14.4			0.1		30.9	46
DGS		31.0		0.2	20.2	0.3			0.4	1.9	3.5		57
DGX			254	0.1		9.6	6.4						270
DGZ			33.0			1.1			0.8				35
GAG					1.0	21.2	321			8.8		0.00	352
GAU						10.6	0.01						11
GUP			6.0			2.2			0.1				8
GUZ			45.1										45
HYD							97.3						97
JRS							7.1						7
LMA						96.7					2.8		100
MAK						0.3	13.4						14
MSK						62.4							62
QUB						51.0			10.4				61
RAJ			2,245				449						2,694
RJC							1,579						1,579
RJE							66.1						66
RJF							159						159
RJH							415						415
RJI							61.4						61
RJM							1,190						1,190
RJN							2,222						2,222
RJO							29.3						29
SCL	453					35.9	214			1.2			704
SDV						0.9	3,071			24.7			3,096
SHO						17.5							17
SKH	9.0			0.04	0.01	0.3	5.9						15
SKX			10.0			0.02							10
SMA						2,439	5.0		0.03		1,159	46.0	3,649
SMD						1.6			1.5			2.6	6
SRX			975				28.0						1,002
SYC						452	5,321		0.1	39.1		3.2	5,816
SYT	21.4					0.1	226						248
SYX						196	16.3					1.0	213
TIG						5.7				0.3			6
TOE			7.0										7
TRK			10.0			0.8							11
TTR							24.2						24

Notes: Only species with a total reported landing of more than 5 tonnes were included; for the underlying data see the individual Member States’ reports online (footnote 4 in the main text). Species are identified by their 3-alpha code from the FAO’s ASFIS list; see http://www.fao.org/fishery/collection/asfis/en . For the country codes see http://publications.europa.eu/code/pdf/370000en.htm .

Figure 3: Reported landings (in tonnes) of blue shark by Member States in 2013

Notes: For the underlying data see Table 4 .

Table 5: Reported shark landings and inspections by Member States in 2013 and 2014

	2013			2014
	Landings (no.)	Inspections (no.)	Insp. per 100 land.	Landings (no.)	Inspections (no.)	Insp. per 100 land.
Malta	345	291	84.3	n/a	n/a	n/a
Germany	10	6	60.0	25	7	28.0
Ireland	4,310	1,490	34.6	4,303	1,274	29.6
Bulgaria	247	81	32.8	n/a	n/a	n/a
Portugal	5,632	676	12.0	n/a	n/a	n/a
United Kingdom	8,572	1,025	12.0	14,313	1,184	8.3
Denmark	428	29	6.8	n/a	n/a	n/a
Slovenia	457	27	5.9	444	46	10.4
Belgium	4,783	102	2.1	n/a	(83)	n/a
Cyprus	381	3	0.8	312	0	0
Spain	26,394	204	0.8	32,082	131	0.4
France	261,040	480	0.2	n/a	n/a	n/a
Estonia	0	0	0	3	3	100
Total	312,599	4,414	1.4	51,482	2,725	5.3

Notes: Based on Table 2 .

Figure 4: Reported shark landings and inspections by Member States in 2013

Notes: For the underlying data see Table 5 .

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