Member State report / Art9 / 2018 / D3 / Germany / Baltic Sea

Report type Member State report to Commission
MSFD Article Art. 9 Determination of GES (and Art. 17 updates)
Report due 2018-10-15
GES Descriptor D3 Commercial fish and shellfish
Member State Germany
Region/subregion Baltic Sea
Reported by Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit
Report date 2020-02-17
Report access DE_ART9_GES.xml

GES component
D3
D3C1
D3C2
D3C3
3.3.2
Marine reporting units
  • BALDE_MS
Features
  • All fish
  • Extraction of, or mortality/injury to, wild species (by commercial and recreational fishing and other activities)
GES description
GES for the descriptor "Condition of commercial fish and shellfish stocks" is achieved "when the fishing mortality rate is not higher for all commercially exploited fish and shellfish populations in the North Sea than the corresponding FMSY target, the spawning stock biomass (SSB) is above BMSY trigger, and the populations of harvested species have an age and size structure in which all age and size classes continue to be represented resembling natural conditions." The criteria for assessing GES for D3 set out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 are as follows: D3C1, D3C2, D3C3. Explanation: Germany does not update the general description of good environmental status (GES) from 2012 at descriptor level in this reporting exercise. During the reporting period, Germany has worked with the countries bordering the Baltic Sea in the framework of the EU?s MSC CIS process and in HELCOM to develop methodological standards (indicators, evaluation procedures). Specific aspects of criteria and indicators that contribute to a quantitative assessment of good environmental status are reported in the reporting scheme Art. 8_GES. For the assessment of the criteria set out in Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848, the relevant assessments under other EU directives shall be taken into account under Article 8_GES, taking into account, as far as possible, the regional assessments that have been coordinated so far and, on a case-by-case basis, supplemented by national assessments.
Determination date
201810
Update type
Same as last reported determination
Justification for non-use of criterion
Justification for delay in setting EU/regional requirements
During the reporting period, regional cooperation focused on the development of methodological standards to assess the various aspects of stress and resilience on the basis of Commission Decision 2010/477/EU. The indicators vary in their level of maturity and require further development or testing. Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 gives, for the first time, an explicit obligation on the part of the EU Member States to agree on evaluation elements, thresholds and integration rules in the framework of the EU MSFD CIS process and through regional or subregional cooperation. Germany is actively working with the countries bordering the Baltic Sea in the framework of the ongoing work programmes of the EU MSFD and the HELCOM bodies to establish where a coordinated definition is still missing.