1626/94 - - - I
1This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its con-
tents
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1626/94
of 27 June 1994
laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the
Mediterranean
(OJ No L 171, 6. 7. 1994, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
Council Regulation (EC) No 1075/96 of 10 June 1996 L 142 1 15. 6. 1996
Council Regulation (EC) No 782/98 of 7 April 1998 L 113 6 15. 4. 1998
Corrected by:
C1 Corrigendum, OJ No L 159, 3. 6. 1998, p. 68 (782/98)
1626/94 - - - I
ICOUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1626/94
of 27 June 1994
laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the
Mediterranean
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the T reaty establishing the EuropeanCommunity, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas there has been no regulation at Community level
of the conservation and management of fishery resources
in the Mediterranean during the first 10 years of the
common fisheries policy because the particularcircumstances there lend themselves less easily to the
application of rules analogous to those applying in the
Atlantic and North Sea since 1983;
Whereas, however, the time has now come to remedy the
problems currently affecting resources in the
Mediterranean by introducing a harmonized management
system suited to the circumstances there, while taking into
account existing national regulations and making
adjustment to the latter, as required to protect stocks, in a
balanced and, where appropriate progressive manner;
Whereas the Community must also seek, in cooperation
with all the coastal States concerned, to establish a
common policy for the management and exploitation of
Mediterranean fish stocks; whereas, furthermore, the
management system introduced by this Regulation covers
operations relating to the fishing of Mediterranean stocks
carried out by vessels flying the flag of a third country in
Community ports;
Whereas gear which, when used in the Mediterranean,
contributes excessively to the degradation of the marine
environment or to the running-down of certain stocks
should be prohibited; whereas part of the coastal zone
should be reserved for the most selective gear used by
small-scale fishermen, whereas, notwithstanding the
geographical scope of Council Regulation (EEC) No
3094/86 of 7 October 1986 laying down certain technical
measures for the conservation of fishery resources (
4), the
provisions of that Regulation concerning drifting gill nets
and purse seines are already applicable in theMediterranean;
(1) OJ No C 5, 9. 1. 1993, p. 6 and
OJ No C 306, 12. 11. 1993, p. 10.
(2) OJ No C 255, 20. 9. 1993, p. 237.
(3) OJ No C 201, 26. 7. 1993, p. 27.
(4) OJ No L 288, 11. 10. 1986, p. 1. Regulation as last
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3919/92 (OJ No L 397,31. 12. 1992, p. 1).
1626/94 - - - I
IIWhereas it is appropriate to define the characteristics of
the main types of fishing gear used in the Mediterranean,
in particular minimum mesh sizes, as well as minimum
sizes for certain species of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and
other fishery products specific to the Mediterranean in
order to prevent their over-exploitation;
Whereas, likewise, in order to avoid situations in which
large numbers of undersized individuals are caught, it is
necessary to protect certain zones where juveniles
congregate, taking account of the local biological
conditions in these various zones; whereas it is furthermore
appropriate that, when regulating fisheries in the
Mediterranean, both Community and national legislation
should take into account the special needs of particular
species and environments recognized to be fragile or
endangered;
Whereas, in order not to impede scientific research, this
Regulation should not apply to any operations required for
the purposes of such research;
Whereas national measures supplementary to, or going
beyond the minimum requirements of, the system
established by this Regulation or measures regulating the
relationships between those engaged in fishing activities
should remain possible; whereas such measures may be
maintained or introduced, subject to review by the
Commission as regards their compatibility with Community
law and their conformity with the common fisheries policy;
Whereas, for a limited period and according to a
procedure which ensures a minimum negative effect on
resources and on the activities of Community fishermen,
national measures authorized by the provisions of this
Regulation should be accepted;
Whereas Article 2 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No
3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community
system for fisheries and aquaculture (1), obliges Member
States to ensure that non-commercial fisheries activities do
not jeopardize the conservation and management of
resources covered by the common fisheries policy; whereas
this obligation is of particular importance in the
Mediterranean owning to the considerable extent of such
activities in that sea and whereas it is important to limit
any negative affects thereof on the state of stocks;
Whereas the Community is a signatory to the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which contains
principles and rules governing the conservation and
management of marine biological resources,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
(1) OJ No L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.
1626/94 - - - I
1Article 1
1. This Regulation shall apply to all fisheries and related
activities pursued within the territory or the maritime
waters of the Mediterranean of the east of line 5 û36 〈west
falling under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of Member
States with the exception of pools and lagoons. It shall also
apply to such activities pursued in the Mediterranean out-
side those waters by Community vessels.
2. Member States with a Mediterranean coastline may
continue to legislate in the areas covered by paragraph 1,
including that of non-commercial fisheries, by adopting
measures supplementary to, or going beyond the minimum
requirements of, the system established by this Regulation,
provided such measures are compatible with Community
law and in conformity with the common fisheries policy.
When adopting such measures, Member States shall pay
attention of the conservation of fragile or endangeredspecies or environments, in particular those listed in Annex
I.
3. The Commission shall be informed, in time for it to
present its observations in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 3094/86,
of any plans to introduce or amend national conservation
and resource management measures.
Article 2
1. The use for fishing purposes and the keeping on
board of toxic, soporific or corrosive substances, of electric
shock generators and of explosives shall be prohibited.
2. The use of St Andrew’s crosses and similar towed
gear for harvesting coral and the use of pneumatic
hammers or other percussive instruments for the collection
of lithophagous molluscs shall be prohibited.
3. The use of encircling and towed nets set from a boat
and operated from the shore (shore seines) shall be
prohibited as from 1 January 2002 unless the Council,
acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the
Commission, decides otherwise in the light of scientific
data proving that their use does not have a negative
impact on resources.
Article 3
1. The use of trawls, seines or similar nets shall be
prohibited within three nautical miles of the coast or
within the 50 m isobath where that depth is reached at a
shorter distance, irrespective of the method of towing or
haulage, except where a derogation is provided for in
national legislation in respect of a three-mile coastal zone
which extends beyond the territorial waters of a Member
State.1626/94
1626/94 - - - I
2However, any fishing gear used at a distance from the
c o a s to fl e s st h a nt h a tl a i dd o w ni nt h ef i r s ts u b p a r a g r a p h
and used in accordance with national law in force on 1
January 1994 may be used until 31 December 1988, unless
the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal
from the Commission, decides otherwise in the light of
scientific data proving that their use does not have a
negative impact on resources.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the use of
dredges for catching shellfish shall be authorized
irrespective of the distance from the coast and the depth,
provided that the catch of species other than shellfish does
not exceed 10 % of the total weight of the whole catch.
3. Fishing with bottom trawls, seines or similar nets
above the Posidonian beds (Posidonia Oceanica) or other
marine phanerogams shall be prohibited.
4. It shall be prohibited to set any type of encircling net
within 300 m of the coast or within the 30 m isobath
where that depth is reached at a shorter distance.
Article 3a
1. It shall be forbidden to fish for bluefin tuna with
purse seine during the period from 1 to 31 August.
2. It shall be forbidden to use airplanes or helicopters in
support of fishing operations for bluefin tuna during the
period 1 to 30 June.
Article 4
1. The Member States shall draw up a list of protected
zones in which fishing activities are restricted for biological
reasons specific to those zones.
2. The competent authorities of the Member States
concerned shall fix the list of fishing gear which may be
used in protected zones, as well as the appropriate
technical rules, on the basis of the relevant conservation
objectives and in accordance with this Regulation.
3. The measures referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall
be notified to the Commission, which shall communicate
them to the other Member States.
Article 5
1. Member States shall fix restrictions involving the
technical characteristics of the main types of gear in
accordance with the minimum requirements set out in
Annex II.1626/94
782/98
1626/94
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32. The restrictions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
notified to the Commission in accordance with
Article 1 (3).
When exercising its powers in accordance with Article 14
of Regulation (EEC) No 3094/86 the Council shall take
account of the characteristics of the fisheries activities
peculiar to the waters in question.
Article 5a
1. It shall be prohibited to fish for bluefin tuna using
surface-set longlines from vessels greater than 24 m in
length during the period from 1 June to 31 July each year.
2. For the purposes of this Article, the applicable length
shall be that defined by ICCAT , given in Annex V .
Article 6
1. The using and keeping on board of trawl or similar
towed gear, gill net or encircling net shall be prohibited,
unless the mesh size in that part of the net having the
smallest meshes is equal to or greater than one of theminimum mesh sizes listed in Annex III.
Any fishing gear whose minimum mesh size is smaller than
one of the mesh sizes laid down in Annex III, used in
accordance with the national law in force on 1 January
1994 may however be used until 31 December 1998, unless
the Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal
from the Commission decides otherwise, in the light of
scientific data proving that its use does not have a negative
impact on resources.
2. Mesh sizes shall be determined in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2108/84 (
1).
3. The length of nets shall be defined by the length of
the float line. The drop of nets shall be defined as the sum
of the height of the meshes (including knots) when wet
and stretched perpendicular to the float line.
Article 7
Member States may prohibit landings outside places
specially prepared or authorized for that purpose. Where
Member States adopt such measures, they must notify
them immediately to the Commission, which shall inform
the other Member States.
(1) OJ No L 194, 24. 7. 1984, p. 22.1626/94
1075/96
1626/94
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4Article 8
1. A fish, crustacean, mollusc or other fishery product
shall be deemed undersized if it is smaller than the
minimum size specified in Annex IV for the relevant
species.
The size of fish, crustaceans and molluscs shall be
measured in accordance with Article 5 (2) of Regulation
(EEC) No 3094/86 unless otherwise specified in Annex IV .
If more than one method of measuring size is permitted,
the fish, crustacean or mollusc shall be deemed of the
required size if at least one of the stipulated measurements
is greater than the relevant minimum size.
2. The minimum sizes for coral, sea urchins, sea squirts
and sponges shall be adopted in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 43 of the T reaty.
3. Undersized fish, crustaceans, molluscs or other fishery
products shall not retained on board, transhipped, landed,transferred, stored, sold, displayed or offered for sale.
Article 9
This Regulation shall not apply to fishing operations
conducted solely for the purpose of scientific investigations
which are carried out with the permission and under theauthority of the Member State or Member States
concerned and of which the Commission has been
informed.
Article 10
When excercising its powers under this Regulation, and
particularly when preparing proposals for measures in
areas covered by agreements concluded between fishermen,
the Commission shall seek the opinion of the organizations
representing them.
Article 11
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1995.1626/94
1626/94 - - - I
5ANNEX I
FRAGILE OR ENDANGERED SPECIES OR ENVIRONMENTS
SPECIES:
All marine species of:— mammals (cetaceans, pinnipeds),
—b i r d s ,
— reptiles (chelonids),—f i s h ,
present in the Mediterranean and indicated in Annex I and II to
the convention on the conservation of migratory species of wildanimals by Decision 82/461/EEC (
1) or Annex II to the conven-
tion on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habi-
tats approved by Decision 82/72/EEC (2).
ENVIRONMENTS:
— coastal wetlands,
— beds of marine phanerogams.
(1) OJ No L 210, 19. 7. 1982, p. 10.
(2) OJ No L 38, 10. 2. 1982, p. 1.1626/94
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6ANNEX II
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAIN TYPES OF FISHING
GEAR
Trawls (pelagic and demersal)
— The use of any device to cover the codend, on the inside or
the outside, is restricted to the devices authorized by
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3440/84 (1).
Dredges
— The maximum breadth of dredges is 4 m, except in the case
of dredges for sponge fishing (gagava).
Encircling nets (seines and lampara nets)
— The length of netting is restricted to 800 m and the drop to
1 2 0m ,e x c e p ti nt h ec a s eo ft u n as e i n e s .
Bottom-set nets (gillnets and entangling nets) and trammel nets
— The maximum drop of bottom-set nets is 4 m,
— It is prohibited to have on board and set more than 5 000
m of bottom-set nets per vessel.
Bottom-set longline— It is prohibited to have on board and set more than 7 000
m of longline per vessel.
Surface-set longline (floating)— It is prohibited to have on board and set more than 60 km
of longline per vessel.
(1) OJ No L 318, 7. 12. 1984, p. 23.1626/94
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7ANNEX III
MINIMUM MESH SIZES
T owed nets (bottom trawls, surface trawls (1), anchored
seines, etc.): 40 mm
Encircling nets: 14 mm
(1) For surface trawling of sardine and anchovy, the minimum mesh
size is reduced to 20 mm where these species account for at least70 % of the catch after sorting.1626/94
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8ANNEX IV
MINIMUM SIZES
Species Minimum size
FISH
Dicentrarchus labrax 23 cm
Diplodus spp. 15 cm
Engraulis encrasicolus (*) 9 cm
Epinephelus spp. 45 cm
Lophius spp. 30 cm
Merluccius merluccius 20 cm
Mugil spp. 16 cm
Mullus spp. 11 cm
Pagellus spp. 12 cm
Pagrus pagrus 18 cm
Polyprion americanus 45 cm
Scomber scombrus 18 cm
Solea vulgaris 20 cm
Sparus aurata 20 cm
Thunnus thynnus 70 cm or 6,4 kg (**) 782/98
Trachurus spp. 12 cm 1626/94
Xiphias gladius (***) 120 cm 782/98
CRUSTACEANS
Homarus gammarus 85 mm carapace
240 mm total length
Nephrops norvegicus 20 mm carapace
70 mm total length
Palinuridae 240 mm total length
MOLLUSCS
Pecten spp. 100 mm
Venerupis spp. 25 mm
Venus spp. 25 mm
(*) Member States may convert the minimum size into numbers of indi-
v i d u a l so ft h i ss p e c i e sp e rk i l o g r a m .
(**)Ηo w e v e ri ts h a l lb ea u t h o r i s e dt ol a n du pt o1 5 %i nn u m b e ro f
individuals weighing between 1,8 kg and 6,4 kg caught accidently782/98
(*** )The length is measured along a straight line drawn from the tip of
the lower jaw to the posterior extremity of the shortest caudal ray.1626/94 — 782/981626/94
1626/94 - - - I
9ANNEX V
ICCAT definition of length of vessels:
— For any fishing vessel built after 18 July 1982, 96 % of the
total length on a waterline at 85 % of the least moulded
depth measured from the top of the keel, or the lengthfrom the foreside of the stem to the axis of the rudder
stock on that waterline, if that be greater. In ships designed
with a rake of keel, the waterline on which this length ismeasured shall be parallel to the designed waterline;
— For any fishing vessel built before 18 July 1982, registered
length as entered on the national registers or other recordof vessels.1075/96