Dies ist eine HTML Version eines Anhanges der Informationsfreiheitsanfrage 'Access to information regarding total allowable catches (TACs) of EU fish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic discussed and adopted on 17 and 18 December 2018, and exemptions from the landing obligation'.



Ref. Ares(2018)4180323 - 09/08/2018
Ref. Ares(2019)2387732 - 04/04/2019
From: 
 
Sent: 
09 August 2018 11:22 
To: 
CLARK Helene (MARE) 
Cc: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Subject: 
RE: Ares(2018)4088522 - On behalf of Ms Clark: letter to members of 
NWW group 
Attachments: 
180809 Cover letter JR NWW.pdf; 180809 Final JR NWW 2019.docx; 
180809 Annex XII DM Horsemackerel.docx; 180809 Annex XIII DM 
Mackerel.docx; 180809 Annex VIII HS Plaice.docx; 180809 Annex XI DM 
Cod.docx; 180809 Annex X DM haddock.docx; CELSELEC fiche.pdf; 
REJEMCELEC_fiches_synthétiques.pdf 
 
Dear Ms. Clark, 
 
On behalf of 
 in her role as chair of the North Western Waters regional group, I 
hereby send to you the revised Joint Recommendation for a discard plan 2019 for demersal fisheries, 
together with the annexes that link to the exemptions that have been altered. The members of the 
North Western Waters regional group have done their utmost to accommodate the observations of the 
Commission while still taking into account a workable landing obligation.  
 
Furthermore, I wish to express my appreciation to my colleagues for their work and input during this 
sunny, but short and sometimes difficult revision process, having to deal with a situation in which 
many of their colleagues were on holiday.  
 
Kind regards, 
 
 
 
 

........................................................................ 
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality 
Department of European Agricultural and Fisheries Policies and Food Security 
Bezuidenhoutseweg 73 | 2594 AN | THE HAGUE | A Noord 4  
Postbus 20401 | 2500 EK | THE HAGUE 
........................................................................ 
 
 
 
 
 
Van: 
  
Verzonden: vrijdag 3 augustus 2018 14:59 
Aan: xxxxxx.xxxxx@xx.xxxxxx.xx 
CC: 
   
 
 
     
 
 
 
 
Onderwerp: FW: Ares(2018)4088522 - On behalf of Ms Clark: letter to members of NWW group 
 
Dear Ms. Clark, 
 
On behalf of 
 in her role as chair of the North Western Waters, I would like to inform 
you on the process of revising the North Western Waters Joint Recommendation for a discard plan 
2019 for demersal fisheries.  
 
Although the specific time of year and the short deadlines make it challenging to get the right mandate 
to make changes, we are working on the removal and/or adjustment of the following exemptions: 
 
High survival: 
• 
Skates and ray species caught by any gear in the North Western Waters (areas VI and VII) 
• 
Plaice caught with beam trawls in ICES subareas VIIa to VIIk 
 
De minimis: 
• 
Gadoid caught using bottom trawls, seines and beam trawls of greater than or equal to 80mm 
mesh size in the Celtic Sea and the Channel (ICES VIIb-c, e-k): this de minimis will be 
replaced by 2 new de minimis exemptions for haddock and cod. Furthermore the existing 
exemptions for whiting in VIIb-j will be retained. These exemption have already been assessed 
by STECF and justification has been provided previously. 
• 
Undersized whiting in the TR2 Nephrops trawl fishery in ICES division VIIa 
• 
Undersized bycatches of haddock in the TR1 demersal trawl fisheries in ICES area VIIa 
• 
Bycatch of pelagic species (mackerel, horse mackerel, herring, boarfish, greater silver smelt) 
caught by vessels using bottom trawls and seines, and beam trawls in subarea VI and VIIb-k: 
this de minimis will be split in 2 separate de minimis exemptions (mackerel and horse 
mackerel) 
 
If we can maintain the current progress I expect to send to you the consolidated revised Joint 
Recommendation in the course of next week, but no later than 15 August.  

 
Kind regards, 
 
 
 
 
........................................................................ 
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality 
Department of European Agricultural and Fisheries Policies and Food Security 
Bezuidenhoutseweg 73 | 2594 AN | THE HAGUE | A Noord 4  
Postbus 20401 | 2500 EK | THE HAGUE 
........................................................................ 
M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From: EC ARES NOREPLY [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxx.xx.xxxxxx.xx]  
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2018 5:12 PM 
To:
 
 
 
Cc: CLARK Helene (MARE); 
 
Subject: Ares(2018)4088522 - On behalf of Ms Clark: letter to members of NWW group 
 
Ares(2018)4088522 - On behalf of Ms Clark: letter to members of NWW group 
 
Sent by 
MARE) 
 
All responses have to be sent to this email address. 
Envoyé par 

 (MARE) 
. Toutes les réponses doivent être effectuées à 
cette adresse électronique. 
 
Dear members of the North Western Waters group, 
 
I  refer  to  my  letter  of  24  July  to  the  Chair  of  the  group,  with  copy  to  you  all, 
presenting  the  Commission's  assessment  of  the  various  elements  of  your  Joint 
Recommendation. 
 
Following  some  of  the  comments  already  exchanged  in  the  group,  I  wish  to 
underline  that  this  assessment  has  been  based  on  a  DG  MARE  collective  and 
thorough  analysis,  not  only  on  the  STEFC  recommendation,  but  also  on  the 
specific  context  of  your  fisheries.  We  have  received,  as  could  be  expected  with 
the  entry  into  force  of  the  full  landing  obligation  in  2019,  a  high  number  of 

requests  for  derogations,  and  have  been  keen  to  ensure  a  coherent  approach 
between all sea basins, as well as fair treatment of all groups. 
 
As  you  will  have  noticed,  the  Commission  accepted  most  of  your  requests  for 
high survivability, including some with low survivability rates, such as some of the 
requests for plaice caught with beam trawls or for the majority of skates and rays. 
It  should  be  clear  that  such  derogations  are  exceptional  and  could  only  be 
justified  as  temporary,  pending  further  information,  or  pending  further  measures 
to  be  taken  to  increase  selectivity.  Progress  with  these  will  need  to  be  closely 
monitored  over  the  months  to  come.  We  have  also  accepted  the  extended  de 
minimis  exemptions  for  whiting  in  7d.  This  level  of  acceptance  is  certainly  a 
reflection of the serious work done in your Group. 
             
There are however a few requests which, if included in the Delegated Act, would 
risk  jeopardising  the  whole  inter-institutional  adoption  process,  which  as  you 
know, involves both the Council and the European Parliament. The combined de 
minimis  requests  for  gadoids  and  pelagic  species  are  examples  where  the 
STEFC  assessment  is  clearly  not  supportive.  The  requests  for  de  minimis  for 
whiting and haddock in the Irish Sea are other examples where STECF was not 
supportive. Accepting the exemption for plaice in the BT2 for three years with the 
very low survival rate is also such a case, which is why we suggest a shorter time 
period.  
 
Let  me  however  clarify  that  the  Commission’s  approach  should  not  be  seen  as 
cherry picking, but as an approach which takes into account the Basic Regulation 
and the need to have a positive assessment by the STECF. Where this is not the 
case we have to ask the MS Group to revise their JR. 
 
We  strongly  advise  that  the  Group  withdraws  these  controversial  requests,  in 
order to increase the chances of having a Delegated Act in force at the beginning 
of  2019.  The  Group  can  of  course  submit  a  separate  Joint  recommendation  for 
some of the excluded exemptions if and when it considers that it is able to provide 
a stronger justification.  
 
  or  myself  are  at  your 
disposal should you wish to discuss how to proceed.  
 
Best regards 
 
Hélène Clark 
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