Advice and Recommendations

The PelAC developed the recommendations as set out in this letter, as a result of discussions and reflections during the PelAC workshop on EAFM organized in February 2023, which sought to identify approaches to implement EAFM in pelagic fisheries, as well as gather elements to enable further progress in relation to integrating ecosystem variables in pelagic fisheries management, and to identify knowledge gaps. The PelAC hopes the Commission will find these recommendations useful in their reflections to gradually move beyond single-species advice and to further develop the uptake of ecosystem considerations and climate driven changes into fisheries advice and management strategy evaluations.

The PelAC submited its unanimous views taking a pelagic fisheries perspective. As such, the response is based on a selection of sections and actions in the documents, deemed most relevant for pelagic stocks that fall under remit of the PelAC. The PelAC hopes that this advice will help to inform the Member States on the further implementation of the actions set out in the documents and provide material for further reflections.

The letter is submitted to the following Member State Goups: Scheveningen Group, North Western Waters and South Western Waters regional groups.

Following the PelAC rebuilding plan for Western horse mackerel sent to the Commission in July 2020, the Pelac now recalls its recommendation for an urgent benchmark dedicated tot he three horese mackerel stocks.

The PelAC also wishes to point out that the decision for setting a ‘bycatch’ TAC for Western horse mackerel for 2023, has led to unforeseen pratical issues in the implementation by Member States, jeopardising the level palying field for EU industries fhishing this stock.

In this recommendation the PelAC outlines the difficulties encountered in the implementation of the bycatch quota in 2023 across the different Member States based on feedback received by its industry members, and asks for Commission support to establish coherence between MS approaches to avoid similar difficulties in 2024, as a fallback solution in the event that it is not possible to hold a benchmark in 2023.

The NWWAC and PelAC sent a joint recommendation on Sprat in the English Channel following the ICES advice.

Following the recently provided courses by ICES at the request of DG MARE,  NWWAC, LDAC, CCRUP, BSAC and PelAC thank DG MARE for the opportunity but regret that participation by both members as well as the Secretariats was severely limited due to late notification. We would appreciate if requests made by the Commission to ICES for training in the future could include notification from the Commission to the AC Secretariats so that the ACs are aware of the planning as early as possible.

Following the PelAC virtual workshop on 20 April 2023 on Energy transition in the pelagic sector, the PelAC would greatly appreciate an opportunity to report on these workshop outcomes though a speaking slot during the event on the Energy Transition in the EU fisheries and aquaculture sector organised by the Commission on 16 June 2023.

The PelAC fully supports the European Commission’s commitment and efforts to find a rational sharing arrangement between all involved Coastal States for the Northeast Atlantic mackerel stock, but once again, observes the real risk of parties persisting with the setting of excessive unilateral quotas, which would lead to another year of catches exceeding the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that has been set in line with scientific advice for 2023. The PelAC again underlines its deep concerns regarding the consequences of other parties maintaining these potentially repeated irresponsible decisions, that run contrary to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and particularly the 1995 Straddling Stocks Agreement, effectively deeming this approach IUU fishing.

In this letter the PelAC underlines the importance that the terms of reference of the benchmark clarifies the organization and assignment of individuals to carry out the various tasks detailed in our action plan for Western horse mackerel in particular. Furthermore, the PelAC notes that the horse mackerel assessments currently do not include genetic information related to stock identification.

Following the successful joint NWWAC/PelAC Briefing on the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 on 19 January, the NWWAC in conjunction with the PelAC, request with this letter to be included in the relevant stakeholder working groups on this topic in Ireland.

The PelAC informed the Commission that after a discussion at the Working Group II meeting held on 22 February in Utrecht, the PelAC members concluded that it was not within the competence of the PelAC to submit a response to this specific consultation, since the pelagic species covered by the MAPs fall outside of the PelAC’s remit.