Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 302/2009 concerning a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean

At its Annual Meeting in 2010, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) adopted a Recommendation amending the recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

In order to rebuild the stock, the ICCAT recovery plan was modified to provide for a further reduction of the total allowable catch (TAC), to strengthen measures to reduce the fishing capacity and to reinforce the control measures, particularly as regards the transfer and the caging operations. These measures are aimed to ensure the effectiveness of the plan with the goal of achieving a biomass corresponding to the maximum sustainable yield, with at least 60% probability.

The Community has been a Party to ICCAT since 1997 and the Recommendations become binding on Contracting Parties which do not object to them. As a Contracting Party to this organisation, the European Union has a responsibility to apply Recommendations adopted to which it has raised no objections.

The purpose of this proposal is to transpose into Union law the ICCAT recommendation modifying the recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)330: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:330:FIN

International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) http://www.iccat.es/

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