# Council Regulation (EU) No 1221/2014Show full title

Council Regulation (EU) No 1221/2014 of 10 November 2014 fixing for 2015 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks            and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and amending Regulations (EU) No 43/2014 and (EU) No 1180/2013         

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# Council Regulation (EU) No 1221/2014                     

# of 10 November 2014

# fixing for 2015 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea and                        amending Regulations (EU) No 43/2014 and (EU) No 1180/2013                     

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(3) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1)Article 43(3) of the Treaty provides that the Council is to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities,                              on a proposal from the Commission.

(2)Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1) requires that conservation measures are adopted taking into account available scientific, technical and economic advice,                              including, where relevant, reports drawn up by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and                              other advisory bodies, as well as in the light of any advice received from Advisory Councils.

(3)It is incumbent upon the Council to adopt measures on the fixing and allocation of fishing opportunities, including certain                              conditions functionally linked thereto, as appropriate. Fishing opportunities should be allocated to Member States in such                              a way as to ensure relative stability of fishing activities of each Member State for each stock or fishery and having due                              regard to the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) established in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(4)The total allowable catches (TACs) should therefore be established, in line with Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and taking into                              account the principles mentioned in recital 2.

(5)For small pelagic (herring and sprat), cod and salmon fisheries in the Baltic Sea the landing obligation provided for in Article                              15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 applies from 1 January 2015. Article 16(2) of that Regulation provides that, when the                              landing obligation is introduced in respect of a fish stock, fishing opportunities are to be fixed taking into account the                              change from fixing fishing opportunities that reflect landings to fixing fishing opportunities that reflect catches.

(6)For stocks subject to specific multiannual plans, the fishing opportunities should be established in accordance with the rules                              laid down in those plans. Consequently, the catch limits should be established in accordance with the rules laid down in Council                              Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007(2) (the ‘Baltic Sea Cod Plan’).

(7)The scientific advice provided in respect of fishing effort for Baltic cod by the International Council for the Exploration                              of the Sea (ICES) indicated that where a landing obligation applies to a specific stock, fixing of lower effort limitations                              would not contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the reformed CFP. It is, therefore, appropriate to fix the effort                              limits for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions 22-24 at the level of 2014. Fixing the fishing effort limits at the level of 2014                              will facilitate the introduction of the landing obligation and will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the                              CFP as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(8)In the light of the scientific advice provided, flexibility in the management of the fishing effort for cod stock in ICES                              subdivisions 22-24 in the Baltic Sea can be introduced without jeopardising the objectives of the Baltic Sea Cod Plan and                              without causing an increase in fishing mortality. Such flexibility would allow for a more efficient management of the fishing                              effort where quotas are not allocated equally among the fleet of a Member State and would facilitate swift reactions to quota                              exchanges. A Member State should, therefore, be allowed to allocate additional days absent from port to fishing vessels flying                              its flag where an equal amount of days absent from port is withdrawn from other fishing vessels flying its flag.

(9)Recent scientific advice shows that ICES could not establish the biological reference points for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions                              25-32 and instead it advised that the TAC for that cod stock be based on the data limited approach. The absence of biological                              reference points makes it impossible to follow the rules for setting the fishing opportunities for cod stocks in ICES subdivisions                              25-32. As not fixing fishing opportunities could constitute a serious threat to the sustainability of that stock, it is appropriate                              to fix the TAC for those cod stocks at a level corresponding to the approach developed and advised by ICES and to fix fishing                              effort limits at the level of 2014. Fixing the fishing effort limits at the level of 2014 will facilitate the introduction                              of the landing obligation, will provide for more selective fishing and will contribute to the achievement of the objectives                              of the CFP as defined in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.

(10)The use of fishing opportunities set out in this Regulation is subject to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009(3), and in particular Articles 33 and 34 of that Regulation, concerning the recording of catches and fishing effort and the                              information on data on the exhaustion of fishing opportunities respectively. It is therefore necessary to specify the codes                              relating to landings of stocks subject to this Regulation which are to be used by the Member States when sending data to the                              Commission.

(11)Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96(4) introduced additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs, including flexibility provisions under Articles 3 and                              4 for precautionary and analytical TACs respectively. Under Article 2 of that Regulation, when fixing the TACs, the Council                              is to decide to which stocks Articles 3 or 4 shall not apply, in particular on the basis of the biological status of the stocks.                              More recently, the year-to-year flexibility mechanism was introduced by Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 for                              all stocks that are subject to the landing obligation. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive flexibility that would undermine                              the principle of rational and responsible exploitation of living marine biological resources, hinder the achievement of the                              objectives of CFP and deteriorate the biological status of the stocks, it should be established that Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation                              (EC) No 847/96 apply to analytical TACs only where the year-to-year flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of Regulation                              (EU) No 1380/2013 is not used.

(12)The scientific advice on sprat in the North Sea covers the period from July to June the following year, even though the TAC                              is set for the period from January to December. The latest scientific advice for the period from July 2014 to June 2015 indicates                              that the TAC can be significantly increased. There is therefore a greater availability of sprat in the second half of 2014                              than was foreseen. Since that stock is subject to an analytical assessment and is within safe biological limits, the conditions                              for the application of Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 allowing inter-annual quota flexibility are fulfilled,                              and should be permitted in order to allow the fisheries to utilise the increased availability of sprat in the most efficient                              way. Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(13)Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 currently allows that a Member State use any unused quantities in 2015, up to 10 % of the quota                              available to it in 2014, in respect of certain stocks. On 6 August 2014, the Russian Federation imposed an embargo on the                              importation of certain agricultural and fisheries products from the Union. As a consequence, some of the exports that producers                              had envisaged to make to Russia in the autumn of 2014 have become impossible and in some cases alternative markets cannot                              be found at short notice. In view of those exceptional circumstances and the urgency of the matter, it is necessary to allow                              certain adjustments for the 2014 fishing season. In view of positive scientific advice as well as a positive approach of the                              relevant coastal states, it is appropriate to allow, exceptionally and only in respect of the stocks that are the most severely                              or directly affected by the Russian embargo, an increase in the percentage of the quantities unused in 2014 that can be carried                              over to 2015. That exceptional measure is limited to the 2014 fishing season. It is expected that this measure would allow                              new markets to be found or catches to be adapted should the embargo continue to apply in 2015. For the same reasons, a corresponding                              possibility to transfer unused fishing opportunities should be introduced in Council Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013(5). Regulations (EU) No 43/2014 and (EU) No 1180/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(14)In order to avoid interruption of fishing activities and to ensure the livelihoods of Union fishermen, this Regulation should                              apply from 1 January 2015. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force immediately after its publication.                              For reasons set out in recital 13, the provisions concerning the possibility to transfer fishing opportunities unused in 2014                              should apply with effect from 1 January 2014,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

## CHAPTER IU.K.**GENERAL PROVISIONS**

### Article 1U.K.Subject matter

This Regulation fixes the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2015.

### Article 2U.K.Scope

This Regulation shall apply to Union fishing vessels operating in the Baltic Sea.

### Article 3U.K.Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

‘ICES’ means International Council for the Exploration of the Sea;

‘Baltic Sea’ means ICES zones IIIb, IIIc and IIId;

‘subdivision’ means an ICES subdivision of the Baltic sea as defined in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005(6);                           

‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources;

‘Union fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;

‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of fishing vessels it                              is the sum of the fishing effort of all fishing vessels in the group;                           

‘stock’ means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area;

‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity of each stock that can be:

caught over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation                                       (EU) No 1380/2013; or                                    

landed over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are not subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of                                       Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;                                    

‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country;

‘days absent from port’ means any continuous period of 24 hours or part thereof during which a fishing vessel is not present                              in a port.                           

## CHAPTER IIU.K.**FISHING OPPORTUNITIES**

### Article 4U.K.TACs and allocations

The TACs, the quotas and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in Annex I.

### Article 5U.K.Special provisions on allocations of fishing opportunities

The allocation of fishing opportunities to Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to:

exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

additional landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or transferred under Article 15(9) of Regulation                              (EU) No 1380/2013;                           

deductions made pursuant to Articles 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

### Article 6U.K.Conditions for landing catches and by-catches not subject to the landing obligation

Catches and by-catches of plaice shall be retained on board or landed only if they have been taken by Union fishing vessels                     flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted.                  

### Article 7U.K.Fishing effort limits

Fishing effort limits are set out in Annex II.

## CHAPTER IIIU.K.**FLEXIBILITY IN THE FIXING OF FISHING OPPORTUNITIES OF CERTAIN STOCKS**

### Article 8U.K.Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 43/2014

Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 is amended as follows:

Article 18a is amended as follows:

in paragraph 1, the following subparagraphs are inserted:

herring in zones VIIa, VIIg, VIIh, VIIj and VIIk;                                             

horse mackerel in Union waters of IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId and VIIIe; in Union and international                                                   waters of Vb; in international waters of XII and XIV.’;                                             

the following paragraph is inserted:

‘7.By way of derogation from paragraph 4, the percentage of 10 % shall be increased by an additional 15 % in respect of stocks                                             referred to in paragraph 1(c), (d), (f), (g), (j), (k), (m) and (n).’;                                    

in Annex IA, the entry for sprat and associated by-catches in Union waters of IIa and IV shall be replaced by the following:

### Article 9U.K.Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013

Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013 is amended as follows:

the following Article is inserted:

#### ‘Article 5aFlexibility in the fixing of fishing opportunities of certain stocks

1.This Article shall apply to the following stocks:                           

(a)herring in ICES subdivisions 30-31;                           

(b)herring in Union waters of ICES subdivisions 25-27, 28.2, 29 and 32;                           

(c)herring in ICES subdivision 28.1;                           

(d)sprat in Union waters of ICES subdivisions 22-32.                           

2.Any quantities up to 25 % of a Member State's quota of the stocks identified in paragraph 1 that have not been used in 2014                                    shall be added for the purpose of calculating the quota of the Member State concerned for the relevant stock for 2015. Any                                    quantities transferred to other Member States pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament                                    and of the Council(7) as well as any quantities deducted pursuant to Articles 37, 105 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall be taken into                                    account for the purpose of establishing quantities used and quantities not used under this paragraph.                           

3.Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply to stocks identified in paragraph 1 of this Article in respect of the                                    Member States concerned.’;                           

in Annex I, the following footnote shall be included in respect of entries concerning the following stocks: herring in subdivisions                              30-31; herring in Union waters of subdivisions 25-27, 28.2, 29 and 32; herring in subdivision 28.1; sprat in Union waters                              of subdivisions 22-32:                           

‘Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.                           

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.’.                           

## CHAPTER IVU.K.**FINAL PROVISIONS**

### Article 10U.K.Data transmission

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send the Commission data relating to quantities                     of stocks caught or landed, they shall use the stock codes set out in Annex I to this Regulation.                  

### Article 11U.K.Flexibility

1.Except where otherwise specified in Annex I to this Regulation, Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall apply to stocks                        subject to precautionary TAC and Article 3(2) and (3) and Article 4 of that Regulation shall apply to stocks subject to analytical                        TAC.                  

2.Article 3(2) and (3) and Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply where a Member State uses the year-to-year                        flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.                  

### Article 12U.K.Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

It shall apply from 1 January 2015.

However, Articles 8 and 9 shall apply with effect from 1 January 2014.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 10 November 2014.

*For the Council*                            

*The President*                            

M. Martina                            

## ANNEX IU.K.TACs APPLICABLE TO UNION FISHING VESSELS IN AREAS WHERE TACs EXIST BY SPECIES AND BY AREA

The following tables set out the TACs and quotas (in tonnes live weight, except where otherwise specified) by stock, and conditions                     functionally linked thereto.                  

The references to fishing zones are references to ICES zones, unless otherwise specified.

The fish stocks are referred to using the alphabetical order of the Latin names of the species.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following comparative table of Latin names and common names is provided:

## ANNEX IIU.K.FISHING EFFORT LIMITS

### 1.Member States shall allocate the right to fishing vessels flying their flag and fishing with trawls, Danish seines or similar                        gear of a mesh size equal to or larger than 90 mm, with gillnets, entangling nets or trammel nets of a mesh size equal to                        or larger than 90 mm, with bottom set lines, longlines except drifting lines, handlines and jigging equipment, to be up to:U.K.

147 days absent from port in ICES subdivisions 22-24, with the exception of the period from 1 to 30 April when Article 8(1)(a)                              of Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 applies; and                           

146 days absent from port in ICES subdivisions 25-28, with the exception of the period from 1 July to 31 August when Article                              8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 applies.                           

### 2.The maximum number of days absent from port per year for which a fishing vessel may be present within the two areas referred                        to in point 1(a) and (b) fishing with the gear specified in point 1 may not exceed the maximum number of days absent from                        port allocated for one of those two areas.U.K.

### 3.By way of derogation from points 1 and 2, and where efficient management of fishing opportunities so requires, a Member State                        may allocate the right to additional days absent from port to fishing vessels flying its flag, where an equal amount of days                        absent from port is withdrawn from other fishing vessels flying its flag that are subject to effort restriction in the same                        area and where the capacity, in terms of kW, of each of the donor fishing vessels is equal to, or larger than, that of the                        receiving fishing vessels. The number of receiving fishing vessels may not exceed 15 % of the total number of fishing vessels                        of the Member State concerned, as indicated in point 1.U.K.

1

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).                           

2

Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 of 18 September 2007 establishing a multiannual plan for the cod stocks in the Baltic                              Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 779/97                              (OJ L 248, 22.9.2007, p. 1).                           

3

Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the                              rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005,                              (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008,                              (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006 (OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1).                           

4

Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and                              quotas (OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3).                           

5

Council Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013 of 19 November 2013 fixing for 2014 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks                              and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea (OJ L 313, 22.11.2013, p. 4).                           

6

Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 of 21 December 2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures                              in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound, amending Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 88/98 (OJ L 349, 31.12.2005, p. 1).                           

7

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).’