Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending for the fifth time Regulation (EEC) No 1866/86 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the waters of the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound (95/C 302/06) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(95) 211 final - 95/0068(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189a (2) of the EC Treaty on 31 May 1995)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1), it is the responsibility of the Council to adopt, in the light of the available scientific advice, the conservation measures necessary to ensure the rational and responsible exploitation of living marine aquatic resources on a sustainable basis; whereas to that end the Council may lay down technical measures concerning fishing gear and the ways in which it is used;

Whereas it is necessary to establish the principles and certain procedures for laying down those technical measures at Community level so that each Member State can manage the fishing activities carried on in the maritime waters within its jurisdiction or under its sovereignty;

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1866/86 (2), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2156/91 (3), lays down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the waters of the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound;

Whereas the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission, set up by the Baltic Sea Convention (Gdansk Convention), hereinafter referred to as 'the Baltic Sea Commission`, lays down the rules governing fishing operations in that sea;

Whereas, by letters of 20 September 1993 and 20 September 1994, the Baltic Sea Commission notified the Contracting States of certain recommendations, adopted at the 19th and 20th sessions of the Commission respectively to modify, among other things, the technical measures;

Whereas the aforementioned Convention provides that the Community must give effect to these recommendations in the waters of the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound subject to the objection procedure laid down in Article XI of the Convention; whereas there are no grounds for such objections,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1866/86 is hereby amended as follows:

1. the following paragraph 1a is added to Article 2:

'1a. Fishing for cod shall be prohibited in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound from 1 June to 31 August 1995.`;

2. Article 3 (4) is replaced by the following:

'4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, undersized cod may be kept on board within a limit of 5 % by weight of the cod catch on board.`;

3. the following paragraph 5 is added to Article 3:

'5. The by-catch of cod taken when fishing for herring and sprat shall not exceed 10 % of the total weight of the catch. Of this by-catch of cod, no more than 5 % of undersized cod shall be kept on board.`;

4. Article 6 (1) is replaced by the following:

'1. During the inspection of nets, meshes shall be measured using a flat gauge which is 2 mm thick and which is made of durable material that will retain its shape. It shall have several parallel-edge sides connected by intermediate tapering sides each with a taper of 1 cm in 8 cm or shall have tapering sides only with the same taper as indicated above. The gauge shall be inscribed on its surface with the width in millimetres both on the parallel-sided section where one exists and on the tapering section. In the case of the latter, the width shall be inscribed every 1 mm interval and the indication of the width shall appear at regular intervals.`;

5. the following paragraph 3 is added to Article 8:

'3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, during fishing for cod, only gear authorized for the cod fishery or gear with a larger mesh size than those laid down in Annex IV may be allowed to be kept on board. If there is gear on board that is not authorized for the cod fishery, the landing of cod shall be prohibited.`;

6. in Annex I, references to the 'German Democratic Republic` are replaced by the 'Federal Republic of Germany`;

7. Annex III is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;

8. Annex IV is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation;

9. Annex V as shown in Annex III to this Regulation is hereby added.

Article 2

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

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

(1) OJ No L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 162, 18. 6. 1986, p. 1.

(3) OJ No L 201, 24. 7. 1991, p. 1.

ANNEX I

'ANNEX III

MINIMUM SIZES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3 (3)

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ANNEX II

'ANNEX IV

MINIMUM MESH SIZE PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 5

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ANNEX III

'ANNEX V

SPECIAL SELECTIVITY DEVICES

In order to guarantee the selectivity of trawls, Danish seines and similar nets with special mesh openings as referred to in Annex IV, the two models of exit windows below shall be/are authorized:

Exit window (model 1)

Two exit windows with plastic coated, fully opened diamond meshes shall be attached to the cod end of trawls and Danish seines in the cod fishery. The mesh opening shall be no less than 105 mm. The exit windows shall be attached with a separate piece of netting (between the ordinary diamond meshes and the meshes of the exit window). The mesh size of the separate netting shall be identical to the bar length of the exit window times the square root of two.

The exit window shall be attached on both sides of the cod end, and the distance between the rear end of the cod end and the window shall be 40 to 50 cm. The length of the window shall be 80 % of the total length of the cod end and the height of the window shall be 50 cm. The window shall be mounted in a way that gives an opening between the upper and lower seams of the window of 15 to 20 cm.

Exit window (model 2)

Identification

The windows shall be rectangular sections of netting in the cod end. There shall be two windows in the cod end.

Size

Each window shall have a minimum width of 45 cm along its entire length. Each window shall have a minimum length of 3,5 m measured along its sides (figure 1 of Diagram 2).

Netting

The meshes in the windows shall have a minimum size of 105 mm. They shall be square meshes, i.e. all four sides of the window netting will be cut all bars (figure 2 of Diagram 2). The netting shall be mounted such that the bars run parallel and perpendicular to the length of the cod end (figure 2). The window width shall be eight open square meshes. The length shall be between 57 and 62 square meshes (figure 2 of Diagram 2).

Location

The cod end shall be divided into upper and lower panels by selvedges running down the port and starboard sides (figure 1 of Diagram 2). The two windows shall be located in the lower panel, immediately adjacent to and below the selvedges (figure 1 of Diagram 2). The windows shall terminate a minimum of 2 m and a maximum of 2,5 m from the cod line.

The forward end of the window shall be joined to eight meshes width of the normal cod end netting (figure 3 of Diagram 2). One side shall join to the selvedge or be joined immediately adjacent to the selvedge and the other side shall be joined to the normal cod end lower panel netting following a straight all knots cut.

Mesh size in the whole cod end

All parts of the cod end shall conform to a minimum mesh size of 105 mm.

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