COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 50/1999 of 18 December 1998 laying down, for 1999, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Norway
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1) and in particular Article 8(4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Articles 2 and 7 of the Fisheries Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway (2), the Community and Norway have held consultations concerning their mutual fishing rights for 1999 and the management of common biological resources;
Whereas, in the course of these consultations, the delegations agreed to recommend to their respective authorities that certain catch quotas for 1999 should be fixed for the vessels of the other party;
Whereas the Agreement of 19 December 1966 between Denmark, Norway and Sweden on reciprocal access to fishing in the Skagerrak and Kattegat provides that each party shall grant vessels of the other parties access to its fishing zone in the Skagerrak and part of the Kattegat up to four nautical miles from the baselines;
Whereas, in a setting comprising the Community, the Faeroes, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation, consultations were also held on the management and sharing of Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Atlanto-Scandian herring) in 1999;
Whereas these consultations led, inter alia, to subsequent arrangements on reciprocal access, under which Norway may fish 9 000 tonnes of its share in Community fishing waters north of 62° N;
Whereas it is for the Council to lay down the specific conditions under which such catches must be taken;
Whereas the fishing activities covered by this Regulation are subject to the control measures provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (3);
Whereas Article 3(2) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87 of 20 May 1987, establishing detailed rules concerning the marking and documentation of fishing vessels (4), provides that all vessels with chilled or refrigerated sea-water tanks are to keep on board a document certified by a competent authority and specifying the calibration of the tanks in cubic metres at 10-centimetre intervals;
Whereas, for imperative reasons of common interest, this Regulation will apply from 1 January 1999,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Vessels flying the flag of Norway are hereby authorised until 31 December 1999 to fish for the species listed in Annexes I and IA, within the geographical and quantitative limits laid down therein and in accordance with this Regulation, in the 200-nautical-mile fishing zone of the Member States in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat, Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean north of 43° 00' N.
2. Fishing authorised pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be limited to those parts of the 200-nautical-mile fishing zone lying seawards of 12 nautical miles from the baselines from which the fishing zones of Member States are measured; however, fishing in the Skagerrak will be allowed seawards of four nautical miles from the Danish baselines.
3. Fishing in the parts of ICES division IIIa bounded in the west by a line drawn from the Hanstholm lighthouse to the Lindesnes lighthouse and in the south by a line drawn from the Skagen lighthouse to the Tistlarna lighthouse and from there to the nearest point on the Swedish coast shall not be subject to quantitative limitations, with the exception of fishing for mackerel and saithe.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, unavoidable by-catches of species for which no quota has been fixed in a given zone shall be permitted within the limits laid down by the conservation measures in force in the zone concerned.
5. By-catches, in a given zone, of a species for which a quota is established in that zone shall be counted against the quota concerned.
Article 2
1. Vessels fishing within the quotas fixed in Article 1 shall comply with the conservation and control measures and all other provisions governing fishing in the zones referred to in that Article.
2. The vessels referred to in paragraph 1 shall keep a log-book in which the information set out in Annex II shall be entered.
3. The vessels referred to in paragraph 1, except for those fishing in ICES division III a, shall transmit to the Commission, in accordance with the rules laid down in Annex III, the information set out in that Annex.
4. Those vessels referred to in paragraph 1 which have chilled or refrigerated sea-water tanks shall keep on board a document certified by a competent authority and indicating the calibration of the tanks in cubic metres at 10-centimetre intervals.
5. The registration letters and numbers of the vessels referred to in paragraph 1 must be clearly marked on the bow of each vessel on both sides.
Article 3
1. When fishing in any ICES division under the quotas fixed in Article 1, vessels exceeding 200 GRT must hold a licence and special fishing permit issued by the Commission on behalf of the Community and must observe the conditions as established by that licence and special fishing permit.
By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, 10 licences and special fishing permits valid on any one day shall be issued by the Commission on behalf of the Community for vessels fishing herring in ICES division II a (north of 62° N).
Norway shall notify to the Commission the name and characteristics of the vessels for which licences and special fishing permits may be issued.
2. The Commission shall issue the fishing licences and special fishing permits referred to in paragraph 1 to all vessels for which a licence and special fishing permit is required by the Norwegian authorities.
Requests for amendments to the list of vessels licensed may be made at any time and shall be processed expeditiously.
3. When an application for a licence and special fishing permit is submitted to the Commission, the following information must be supplied:
(a) name of the vessel;
(b) registration number;
(c) external identification letters and numbers;
(d) port of registration;
(e) name and address of the owner or charterer;
(f) gross tonnage and overall length;
(g) engine power;
(h) call sign and radio frequency;
(i) intended method of fishing;
(j) intended area of fishing;
(k) species for which it is intended to fish;
(l) period for which a licence is required.
4. Each licence and special fishing permit shall be valid for one vessel only. Where two or more vessels are taking part in the same fishing operation, each vessel must be in possession of a licence and special fishing permit.
5. Licences and special fishing permits may be cancelled with a view to the issue of new licences and special fishing permits. Such cancellations shall take effect on the day before the date of issue of the new licences and special fishing permits by the Commission. New licences and special fishing permits shall take effect from their date of issue.
6. Licences and special fishing permits shall be wholly or partially withdrawn before the date of expiry if the respective quotas fixed in Article 1 have been exhausted.
7. Licences and special fishing permits shall be withdrawn in the event of any failure to meet the obligations laid down in this Regulation.
8. For a period not exceeding 12 months, no licence and special fishing permit shall be issued for any vessel in respect of which the obligations laid down in this Regulation have not been met.
9. The Commission shall submit on behalf of the Community, to Norway, the name and the characteristics of the Norwegian vessels which will not be authorised to fish in the Community's fishing zone for the next month(s), as a consequence of an infringement of Community rules.
Article 4
Fishing within the quotas fixed in Article 1 for blue ling, ling and tusk, shall be permitted provided that use is made of the method commonly known as 'long-lining` in ICES division V b and sub-areas VI and VII.
Article 5
The use of trawls and purse seines for the capture of pelagic species shall be prohibited in the Skagerrak from Saturday midnight to Sunday midnight.
Article 6
Vessels authorised to fish on 31 December may continue their fishing activities as from the beginning of the following year, on the basis of this authorisation, until the new lists of vessels for the year in question have been approved by the Commission on behalf of the Community.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from 1 January 1999.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 18 December 1998.