COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 52/1999 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 the Faeroe Islands
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 Article 2 of the Agreement on fisheries between the European Economic Community, of the one part, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Government of the Faeroe Islands, of the other part (2), the Community and the Home Government of the Faeroe Islands have held consultations concerning their mutual fishing rights for 1999;
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 Community, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation have held consultations 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 the Faeroe Islands may fish 11 000 tonnes of their share in Community fishing waters north of 62° N;
Whereas measures should be taken to implement the results of these consultations between the Community and the Faeroe Islands and thus prevent any interruption of mutual fisheries relations as at 31 December 1998;
Whereas the fishing activities covered by this Regulation are subject to the control measures provided for by 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 registered in the Faroe Islands are hereby authorized, from 1 January to 31 December 1999, to fish for the species listed in Annex I, 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, the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean north of 43°00'N.
2. Fishing authorized under paragraph 1 shall be limited, except in the Skagerrak, 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 shall keep a log book in which the information set out in Annex II shall be entered.
3. The vessels 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 which have chilled or refrigerated sea-water tanks shall keep on board a document certified by a competent authority and specifying the calibration of the tanks in cubic metres at 10-centimetre intervals.
5. The registration letters and numbers of the vessels must be clearly marked on the bow of each vessel on both sides.
Article 3
1. Fishing shall be permitted only where a licence and a special fishing permit issued by the Commission on behalf of the Community and in compliance with the conditions set out in Annexes II and III.
2. Licences and special fishing permits shall be issued for the purposes of paragraph 1 provided that the number of licences and special fishing permits valid on any one day does not exceed:
(a) 14 for the fishing of mackerel in ICES divisions VIa (north of 56°30'N), VIIe, f and h, sprat in ICES sub-area IV and division VIa (north of 56°30'N), VIIe, f and h and herring in ICES division VIa (north of 56°30'N); 4 for the fishing of herring in ICES division IIIa N (Skagerrak);
(b) 15 for the fishing of Norway pout and sprat in ICES sub-area IV and division VIa (north of 56°30'N) and sand-eel in ICES sub-area IV including unavoidable by-catches of blue whiting;
(c) 20 for the fishing, of ling and tusk; however, the total number of vessels allowed to fish simultaneously shall not exceed 10;
(d) 16 for the fishing of blue ling;
(e) 20 for the fishing of blue whiting in ICES sub-area VII (west of 12°00'W) and ICES divisions VIa (north of 56°30'N) and VIb;
(f) 3 for the fishing, by long-line, of porbeagle in the whole Community zone with the exception of NAFO 3PS;
(g) 21 for the fishing of herring in ICES division IIa, (north of 62° N). Requests for replacement of licenses and special fishing permits within this maximum number may be made at any time and shall be processed expeditiously.
3. When an application for a licence and a 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 and a special fishing permit is requested.
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 the Faeroe Islands, the names and characteristics of the Faeroese vessels which will not be authorised to fish in the Community's fishing zone during the next month(s) as a consequence of an infringement of Community rules.
Article 4
Fishing in the Skagerrak shall be subject to the following conditions:
1. direct fishing for herring for purposes other than human consumption shall be prohibited;
2. the use of trawls and purse seines for the capture of pelagic species shall be prohibited from Saturday midnight to Sunday midnight.
Article 5
Vessels authorised to fish on 31 December may continue fishing as from the beginning of the next year until the lists of vessels permitted to fish during the year in question are submitted to and approved by the Commission on behalf of the Community.
Article 6
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.