Overview
Technical measures may include
- minimum landing sizes and minimum conservation sizes
- specifications for design and use of gears
- minimum mesh sizes for nets
- requirement of selective gears to reduce unwanted catches
- closed areas and seasons
- limitations on by-catches (catches of unwanted or non-target species)
- measures to minimize the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystems and environment
Technical measures regulation
The technical measures regulation entered into force in 2019. Its goal is to contribute to the objectives of the CFP and to achieve good environmental status, as set out in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the relevant provisions of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The regulation helps to increase the fishing yield, while reducing impacts on marine ecosystems, especially through increased selectivity.
EU countries with a fisheries interest in a given sea basin can agree on regional technical measures, adapted to the specific regional circumstances. Such measures can then be adopted as EU secondary legislation, if confirmed by scientists to be consistent with the objectives of the common fisheries policy.
The technical measures regulation aims to de-centralise the management of technical features to the regional level. It is therefore important to measure progress regularly. The regulation states that the Commission should carry out such assessments every 3 years.
Implementation reports
News
The Commission has launched a public consultation on the implementation of the Technical Measures Regulation. The results of the consultation will feed into the Commission’s third report on the implementation of the regulation, due in 2027.
The proposal promotes the sustainable management of fish stocks in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas and delivers on the political commitments made in the MedFish4Ever and Sofia Declarations.
Today, the Commission proposed extending the annual winter closure in the Bay of Biscay into winter 2027 for fishing vessels over eight metres to help prevent catches of common dolphins and other small cetaceans - which are strictly protected species under the EU Habitats Directive.