Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 2015/104 as regards certain fishing opportunities

On 19 January 2015 the Council adopted Regulation (EU) 2015/104 fixing 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. The Regulation provided for the total allowable catch (TAC) for sprat and associated by-catches in Union waters of ICES division IIa and ICES subarea IV of 227,000 tones for 2015, which was based on the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advice available at the moment of setting the fishing opportunities.

On 30 June 2015 ICES issued advice for sprat in the North Sea covering the period of July 2015 – June 2016, which allows for total wanted catches for that period of not more than 506,000 tones. The positive advice is mainly due to a record high recruitment and new estimations of mortality and updated model input.

As in the European Union fishing opportunities are set annually, the fishing opportunities for 2015 should be amended to provide for a partial increase in the total allowable catch for sprat. This partial increase in the 2015 fishing opportunities will be taken into account when proposing the fishing opportunities for 2016.

EUR-Lex: COM(2015)487: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2015:487:FIN

---