Multiannual management plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean

The Commission supports the results of the inter-institutional negotiations and can therefore accept the Council's position at first reading.

The Commission considers that the Council's position ensures the effective implementation of Recommendation 18-02 establishing a multi-annual management plan for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, adopted in 2018 by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

The Council’s position at first reading also includes two provisions related to bluefin tuna taken from the Commission proposal for a regulation laying down management, conservation and control measures applicable in the Convention area of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The Commission can support that inclusion.

The Commission supports the Council's position as it is in line with the objectives of the Commission's proposal and the basic principles of sustainable fisheries under the Common Fisheries Policy. In addition, the Commission welcomes the Council's position on the following two concrete elements:

- the obligation for Member States to take into consideration small-scale vessels when allocating internally bluefin tuna quotas;

- the obligation for a flag Member State to launch an investigation in case the number of bluefin tuna caged is different from the reported number caught by the master of the purse seiner or trap operator who has caught the fish.

Furthermore, the different responsibilities of the flag Member State and the farming Member State, as well as the duty of cooperation between the two when an investigation is launched, is in line with the most recent ICCAT recommendation adopted on bluefin tuna.