Joint NGO Reaction to Commission’s proposal on targets under art. 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation

This document presents the NGO reaction to the Commission’s proposal on targets under Article 4 of the Technical and Conservation Measures Regulation. It calls on decision-makers to support, subject to amendments, the Commission’s proposal of June 2018 which introduces a new quantitative target to reduce unwanted catches of juveniles.

In order for a robust target, the following amendments need to be made:

• Ensure that the target provides the right incentives to the Member states by making its achievement mandatory;
• Enlarge the scope to cover all relevant commercial species and stocks;
• Introduce a clear, ambitious timeline within which the targets should be achieved in light of the scientific advice;
• Ensure that minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) are based on size at first maturity.