Document ID: 32015R1867
Language: ENG

<table><col/><col/><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>20.10.2015&#160;&#160;&#160;</p></td><td><p>EN</p></td><td><p>Official Journal of the European Union</p></td><td><p>L 275/20</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2015/1867
of 19 October 2015
amending Regulation (EC) No 494/2002 as regards the landing obligation
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of the fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms ( 1 ) , and in particular Article 48 thereof,
Whereas:
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(1)</p></td><td><p>According to Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council&#160;<a>(<span>2</span>)</a>, the gradual elimination of discards through the introduction of a landing obligation for catches of species subject to catch limits is one of the objectives of the common fisheries policy.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(2)</p></td><td><p>According to Article 15(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the landing obligation applies from 1 January 2016 to hake in fisheries defined by that species.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(3)</p></td><td><p>Certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 494/2002&#160;<a>(<span>3</span>)</a> conflict with the landing obligation by obliging fishermen to discard hake caught in excess of certain catch composition limits.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(4)</p></td><td><p>Those provisions of Regulation (EC) No 494/2002 should therefore be amended by requiring that all unintended catches of hake be landed and counted against quotas.</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(5)</p></td><td><p>The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 494/2002 is amended as follows:
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(1)</p></td><td><p>the following Article 1a is inserted:</p><div><p>&#8216;Article 1a</p><p>For the purposes of this Regulation, &#8220;unintended catches&#8221; means incidental catches of marine organisms that, under Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council<a>&#160;(<span>*1</span>)</a>, must be landed and counted against quotas either because they are below the minimum conservation reference size or because they exceed the quantities permitted under the catch composition and by-catch rules.</p></div><p><a>(<span>*1</span>)</a>&#160;&#160;Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC (<a>OJ L&#160;354, 28.12.2013, p.&#160;22</a>).&#8217;;"</p></td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><col/><col/><tbody><tr><td><p>(2)</p></td><td><p>in Article 2, the following paragraph 3 is added:</p><div><p>&#8216;3.&#160;&#160;&#160;Paragraph 1 shall not apply to unintended catches of hake subject to the landing obligation set out in Article&#160;15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. Those unintended catches shall be landed and counted against the quotas&#8217;.</p></div></td></tr></tbody></table>
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
It shall apply from 1 January 2016.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 19 October 2015.
For the Commission
The President
Jean-Claude JUNCKER
<note>
( 1 ) OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p. 1 .
( 2 ) Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy, amending Council Regulations (EC) No 1954/2003 and (EC) No 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulations (EC) No 2371/2002 and (EC) No 639/2004 and Council Decision 2004/585/EC ( OJ L 354, 28.12.2013, p. 22 ).
( 3 ) Commission Regulation (EC) No 494/2002 of 19 March 2002 establishing additional technical measures for the recovery of the stock of hake in ICES sub-areas III, IV, V, VI and VII and ICES divisions VIII a, b, d, e ( OJ L 77, 20.3.2002, p. 8 ).
</note>