Council Decision (EU) 2019/863Show full title

2. ORIENTATIONS U.K.

The Union shall, where appropriate, endeavour to support the adoption of the following actions by the NAFO:

a)

conservation and management measures for fisheries resources in the NAFO regulatory area based on the best scientific advice available, and the precautionary approach including Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas or effort regulation for living marine biological resources regulated by the NAFO, which would bring or maintain the achievement of the maximum sustainable yield exploitation rate at the latest by 2020. Where necessary, specific measures for stocks, which suffer from overfishing shall be considered in order to keep the fishing effort in line with available fishing opportunities;

b)

measures to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities in the regulatory area, including IUU vessel listing;

c)

measures to reinforce fisheries' scientific data collection and promote better cooperation between the industry and scientists;

d)

monitoring, control and surveillance measures in the NAFO regulatory area in order to ensure efficiency of control and compliance with measures adopted within the NAFO;

e)

measures to minimise the negative impact of fishing activities on marine biodiversity and marine ecosystems and their habitats, including measures to reduce marine pollution and prevent the discharge of plastics at sea and reduce the impact on marine biodiversity and ecosystems of plastics present at sea, protective measures for vulnerable marine ecosystems in the regulatory area in line with the NAFO Convention, while taking into account the FAO International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Seas, measures to avoid and reduce as far as possible unwanted catches, including in particular vulnerable marine species, and to gradually eliminate discards;

f)

measures to reduce the impact of Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) in the ocean and to facilitate the identification and recovery of such gear;

g)

measures aimed at the prohibition of fisheries conducted solely for the purpose of harvesting shark fins and requiring that all sharks are landed with each fin naturally attached;

h)

common approaches with other RFMOs, where appropriate, in particular those involved in fisheries management in the same region;

i)

developing approaches related to tackling impacts of non-fishing activities on the marine biological resources in the regulatory area;

j)

recommendations, where appropriate and to the extent permitted under the relevant constituent documents, encouraging the implementation of the Work in Fishing Convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO);

k)

additional technical measures based on advice from the subsidiary bodies and working groups of NAFO.