COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1581/2004
of 27 August 2004
amending Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 establishing the minimum and extended Community programmes for the collection of data in the fisheries sector and laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000 of 29 June 2000 establishing a Community framework for the collection and management of the data needed to conduct the common fisheries policy (1), and in particular Articles 5(1) and 8(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Whenever an on-board sampling scheme is established within the respective national programmes, access to vessels should be guaranteed for sampling purposes. Therefore, on-board observers should be accepted on any vessel in order to avoid biased estimates.
(2)
There is a need to assure a better sampling of stocks under recovery plans and deep-sea species, to obtain a better knowledge of these particular stocks.
(3)
The analysis of Member States’ reports on catch per unit of effort (hereinafter referred to as CPUE) data collected from 1995 to 2000, carried out together with the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as the STECF), provides a basis on which to lay down the eligible CPUE data series to be collected in the future.
(4)
Based on the acquired experience during the first year of data collection in 2002 and taking into consideration the STECF advice, technical modifications are needed to the detailed guidelines for data collection laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 (2), and in particular to the names of the stocks and the sampling approach for length and age sampling strategies.
(5)
Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(6)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 is amended as follows:
1.
Article 3 is amended as follows:
(a)
in the first paragraph, point (c) is replaced by the following:
‘(c)
in the event of sampling, a detailed description of the strategies followed and the statistical estimates used making it possible to appreciate the levels of precision and relationship between the cost and precision; this description shall also include estimates of levels of precision of the estimated parameter; these estimates shall be included in the final report, in a format established by the Commission, after having consulted the STECF.’;
(b)
the second paragraph is deleted;
(c)
the following point is added:
‘(e)
in the event of sampling, the procedures set within the national programmes shall ensure the collection of the required data by duly appointed observers and the acceptance on board and cooperation with such observers by masters of fishing vessels, in accordance with Article 22(1)(d) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 (3).
2.
The Annex is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.
3.
The Appendices are amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 27 August 2004.