Translation of "Particularités du fond de la mer " (French → English) :

If further justified derogations to the common rules are needed to take into account specificities of the EMFF and of the EAFRD, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission commit to allow for these derogations by proceeding with due diligence to the necessary modifications to the Regulation laying down common provisions for the European Structural and Investment Funds.

In relation to the Mediterranean Sea, in conjunction with this Directive, the necessary actions were undertaken for the Union to accede to the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution Resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf and the Seabed and its Subsoil (‘the Offshore Protocol’) to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (‘the Barcelona Convention’), which was concluded by Council Decision 77/585/EEC

56. Highlights the threat to biodiversity posed by deep sea bottom-trawling and other unsustainable fishing practices; takes note of the recent decision in the UN General Assembly in this regard; urges the Commission to come forward as soon as possible with legislative proposals on bottom fisheries in the high seas; urges the Commission to work with the UN and the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, where they exist, to adopt and implement measures to manage all fisheries that are conducted on the high seas, including those using trawls; further urges the Commission to work towards the urgent implementation of measu ...[+++]res to protect important deep sea habitats in the high seas from destructive fishing practices, including bottom-trawling;

56. Highlights the threat to biodiversity posed by deep sea bottom-trawling and other unsustainable fishing practices; takes note of the recent decision in the UN General Assembly in this regard; urges the Commission to come forward as soon as possible with legislative proposals on bottom fisheries in the high seas; urges the Commission to work with the UN and the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, where they exist, to adopt and implement measures to manage all fisheries that are conducted on the high seas, including those using trawls; further urges the Commission to work towards the urgent implementation of measu ...[+++]res to protect important deep sea habitats in the high seas from destructive fishing practices, including bottom-trawling;

55. Highlights the threat to biodiversity posed by deep sea bottom-trawling and other unsustainable fishing practices; takes note of the recent decision in the UN General Assembly in this regard; urges the Commission to come forward as soon as possible with legislative proposals on bottom fisheries in the high seas; urges the Commission to work with the UN and the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, where they exist, to adopt and implement measures to manage all fisheries that are conducted on the high seas, including those using trawls; further urges the Commission to work towards the urgent implementation of measu ...[+++]res to protect important deep sea habitats in the high seas from destructive fishing practices, including bottom-trawling;

At the very least, a moratorium on bottom trawl fishing in high seas areas is warranted until legally binding regimes are in place to protect deep-sea biodiversity from high seas bottom trawling and to conserve and manage the demersal fisheries of the high seas consistent with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and other relevant instruments.