EN Official Journal of the European Union C 222/5

Communication from the Commission concerning the measures adopted by the European Union — Islamic Republic of Mauritania Joint Committee established by the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, including the Protocol thereto setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for by the Agreement

2013/C 222/04

The new Protocol to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (1) has been applied provisionally since 16 December 2012, the date of its signature. It covers a period of two years from that date (2).

The European Union — Islamic Republic of Mauritania Joint Committee provided for in Article 10 of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement convened in Paris on 19 and 20 February 2013. Pursuant to Article 4 of the Protocol, the Joint Committee may adopt measures entailing a review of fishing opportunities and an adjustment of the financial contribution.

On the basis of Article 10 of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement and of Article 4 of the Protocol, the two parties agreed on certain measures implementing the Protocol and its annexes. These measures have been entered in the minutes of the Joint Committee and, as regards amendments to fishing categories 2 and 3, have subsequently been discussed in an exchange of letters.

It is therefore necessary, for the purpose of transparency, to bring these decisions of the Joint Committee to the knowledge of all the stakeholders and to publish them in the Official Journal of the European Union. Besides, the reallocation of fishing opportunities between fishing categories 6 and 5 is currently subject to a proposal for a Council regulation amending Council Regulation (EU) No 1259/2012.

The following measures must be applied as from 20 February 2013:

I. Fishing category 1: vessels fishing for crustaceans other than spiny lobster and crab

1. The following maximum by-catches are allowed: 4 % cephalopods, 15 % fish and 10 % crabs. These by-catches must be explicitly referred to in the fishing logs.

2. Authorised by-catches of fish pursuant to the first paragraph are subject to fees in kind at the rate of 2 % of such by-catches, regardless of species.

3. The threshold for vessels authorised to fish at the same time west of the 6 nautical mile line from the low-water mark south of latitude 19°00′ N is raised from 10 to 12 for the purposes of the datasheets for this category in the Protocol (3).

II. Fishing category 2: black hake (non-freezer) trawlers and bottom longliners

1. The fishing zone is extended: — south of latitude 19°15′60″ N as far as latitude 17°50′ N: west of the 18 nautical mile line from the low-water mark, — south of latitude 17°50′ N: west of the 12 nautical mile line from the low-water mark.

2. During the biological recovery periods for cephalopod fisheries: — south of latitude 19°15′60″ N (Cap Timiris) as far as latitude 17°50′ N (Nouakchott), fishing is prohibited beyond the 18 nautical mile line from the low-water mark, — south of latitude 17°50′ N (Nouakchott), fishing is prohibited beyond the 12 nautical mile line from the low-water mark.

III. Fishing category 3: vessels fishing for demersal species other than black hake with gear other than trawls

1. The fishing zone is extended south of latitude 19°21′ N from the 3 nautical mile line from the low-water mark.

2. During the biological recovery periods for cephalopod fisheries, south of latitude 19°15′60″ N (Cap Timiris), fishing is prohibited beyond the 3 nautical mile line from the low-water mark.

IV. Fishing category 4: crabs

The fishing zone extends south of latitude 17°50′ N, west from the 12 nautical mile line from the low-water mark.

V. Fishing category 5: tuna seiners and fishing category 6: pole-and-line tuna vessels and surface longliners (4)

Three pole-and-line licences are transferred from category 6 to category 5. As a result, the number of authorised vessels is 25 tuna seiners for fishing category 5 and 19 pole-and-line tuna vessels and surface longliners for fishing category 6.

VI. Fishing category 7: ocean-going freezer trawlers (deep-water fishing)

In order to facilitate access to the canyon while protecting depths of less than 100 m, the fishing zone is extended south of latitude 17°50′ N, offshore of the Marais de Toumbos and at the Senegal River Delta, to 15 nautical miles from the low-water mark.

(1) OJ L 343, 8.12.2006, p. 4.

(2) OJ L 361, 31.12.2012, p. 10.

(3) Datasheets, fishing category 1, point 6 ‘Fishing opportunities/Fees’, third line ‘Fees’, third subparagraph of the Protocol.

(4) These provisions apply subject to the adoption of the Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 1259/2012.