Transposing international measures for Atlantic tuna fisheries into EU law

Briefing 23-01-2018

The European Parliament and Council have adopted a regulation concerning the conservation of tuna and tuna-like species, and the management of fisheries targeting these stocks in the Atlantic Ocean (including adjacent seas such as the Mediterranean). The new regulation, which entered into force on 3 December 2017, transposes into EU law a number of binding recommendations adopted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a regional fisheries management organisation to which the EU is a contracting party. These measures needed to be enacted in EU law to become applicable, notably to operators such as the masters of fishing vessels. When adopting its legislative resolution, the EP also voted on a statement to express its concern at the Commission’s delay in proposing to implement ICCAT recommendations (some dating back to 2008), and urged it to send future proposals for transposition of RFMOs' recommendations within six months of the date of their adoption.