Council of the
European Union
Brussels, 30 October 2018
(OR. en)
13685/18
ADD 5
Interinstitutional File:
2018/0347(NLE)
LIMITE
PECHE 437
NOTE
From:
General Secretariat of the Council
To:
Delegations
Subject:
Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION fixing for 2019 and 2020 the
fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish
stocks
Delegations will find attached written comments by the Danish delegation on the above-mentioned
document.
13685/18 ADD 5
TC/vs
1
DG B 2A
LIMITE
EN
ANNEX
Preliminary comments from the Danish delegation on Proposal for a Council Regulation
fixing for 2019 and 2020 the fishing opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-
sea fish stocks COM(2018) 676 final
The Danish delegation welcomes the Commission’s proposal fixing for 2019 and 2020 the fishing
opportunities for Union fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks.
Please note that Denmark has a general scrutiny reservation and a parliamentary scrutiny
reservation.
Roundnose Grenadier in Union and international waters of 3
We think that the TAC for Roundnose Grenadier in Union and international waters should be
removed. A removal of the TAC would ensure that Roundnose Grenadier does not become a choke
species in the TAC area.
The Commission has proposed such an approach for Roundnose Grenadier in areas 1, 2 and 4. This
is done according to ICES’ advice that it is possible to remove the TAC for Roundnose Grenadier in
ICES subareas 1, 2 and 4 due to the fact that Roundnose Grenadier does not occur to any significant
level in those areas.
On Roundnose Grenadier in area 3 ICES advices that the TAC for Roundnose Grenadier in subarea
3a should be maintained due to very large catches historically because of directed effort. Directed
fisheries for Roundnose Grenadier occurred in area 3a until 2007. The fisheries was solely carried
out in Norwegian waters. Therefore, the historical directed fishery referred to by ICES did not take
place in the TAC area covered by the Regulation. Catches within the TAC area were very limited.
The precondition for ICES’ advice for maintaining the TAC for Roundnose Grenadier in the TAC
area is therefore misleading.
It may be added that there is no international waters in TAC area 3 contrary to the specification
regarding Roundnose Grenadier in the annex of the proposal.
Even though it is highly unlikely that directed effort would develop regarding Roundnose Grenadier
in Union waters of TAC area 3, we furthermore suggest that a safeguard mechanism is inserted in
the Deep-sea TAC regulation to avoid such a potential situation. The following paragraph could be
inserted as a paragraph 2 in Article 7 of the Deep-sea TAC regulation:
2. “It shall be prohibited for Union fishing vessels to fish directly for Roundnose Grenadier in
Union and international waters of ICES subareas 1-4.”
This would also lead to a horizontal approach with regard to the protection of Roundnose Grenadier
in the broader TAC-area in the North Sea region. Please find attached an annex containing the
historical landings of Roundnose Grenadier in ICES subarea 3.
If the TAC is maintained, it is the view of the Danish delegation that a roll-over of the TAC for
Roundnose Grenadier in ICES subarea 3 would be appropriate. This is because ICES does not
provide any new information about the stock warranting a different TAC setting. In any case, a
precautionary approach to the TAC setting of Roundnose Grenadier in ICES subarea 3 should not
exceed minus 20 percent.
Annex 2
Danish catches of
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Roundnose Grenadier
(tonnes, live weight) in
ICES subarea 3
EU waters
816
881
29
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
1
Norwegian waters
10.613 12.507 2.478 0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total
11.429 13.388 2.506 0
0
1
1
5
0
0
0
0
1
1
Source: Danish Fisheries Agency, Statistics database on landings
