Council Regulation (EC) No 2550/2000 of 17 November 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of marine resources in the Mediterranean
Date: 2000-11-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Mediterranean Sea, conservation of fish stocks, fishery resources, fishing area, fishing net, fishing regulations

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 292/7

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2550/2000

of 17 November 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation
of marine resources in the Mediterranean

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 of 27
June 1994 laying down certain technical measures for the
conservation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean (1) and,
in particular, Article 3(1) and Article 6(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

to this and other problems of certain Mediterranean
fisheries.

It is therefore appropriate to provide for the continua-
tion of the existing derogations to Articles 3(1) and 6(1)
until 31 December 2002, under technical conditions
alleviating the impact of fisheries on the resources.

Member States should regulate by national
legislation
the abovementioned technical conditions in accordance
with guidelines set up on the basis of STECF advice.

Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 should accordingly be
amended,

(6)

(7)

(8)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Article 3(1) and Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1626/94 set out certain technical conservation measures
which were subject to derogating conditions until 31
May 2000 relating to certain traditional
fisheries or
fishing activities.

The fishing activities currently benefiting under the said
derogations constitute a very important contribution to
the overall economy of a large number of fishing-related
industries.

Article 2(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1448/1999
of 24 June 1999 introducing transitional measures for
the management of certain Mediterranean fisheries and
amending Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 (2) stipulates
that, on the basis of all relevant scientific information,
the Commission is to present to the Council a proposal
establishing whether the fishing activities covered by the
be
abovementioned
continued and the technical conditions that should
govern them.

conditions may

derogating

The scientific, technical and economic committee for
fisheries (STECF) has given its opinion on the biological
impact of
the aforesaid fisheries during its plenary
meeting of 3 to 7 April 2000. On the basis of the
information available from STECF, it may be concluded
the adverse impact of certain fisheries on the
that
resources may be alleviated under certain technical
conditions.

The debate on the common fisheries policy which will
take place during 2002 following the report presented
by the Commission under Article 14(2) of Council Regu-
lation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 estab-
lishing a Community system for fisheries and aquacul-
ture (3) will provide a basis for a long-standing solution

(1) OJ L 171, 6.7.1994, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 812/2000 (OJ L 100, 20.4.2000, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 167, 2.7.1999, p. 7.
(3) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula-

tion (EC) No 1181/98 (OJ L 164, 9.6.1998, p. 1).

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1626/94 is hereby amended as follows:

1.

in Article 3(1), the second subparagraph shall be replaced
by the following:

‘However, any fishing gear used at a distance from the coast
of less than that laid down in the first subparagraph and
used in accordance with national law in force on 1 January
1994 may be used until 31 December 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.’;

2.

in Article 3, the following paragraph shall be inserted:

‘1a.
The use of fishing gear under the conditions of the
second subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be prohibited,
the fishery conducted with “gangui”,
with exception of
unless the Member State concerned has enacted measures
ensuring that for these fisheries:

— the prohibition envisaged in paragraph 3 is not jeopar-

dised,

— fishing does not interfere with the activities of vessels
using gears other than trawls, seines or similar towed
nets,

— fishing is restricted to target species not subject to a
minimum landing size in accordance with Article 8,

— fishing is restricted in such a way that catches of species

mentioned in Annex IV are minimal,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

21.11.2000

— vessels are subject to special fishing permits issued in
accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1627/94 of
27 June 1994 laying
down general provisions
concerning special fishing permits (*).

These measures shall be communicated to the Commission
before 31 December 2000.

(*) OJ L 171, 6.7.1994, p. 7.’;

3.

in Article 6(1),
replaced by ‘31 December 2002’;

the date of

‘31 May 2000’ shall be

— fishing is restricted to target species not subject to a
minimum landing size in accordance with Article 8,

— fishing is restricted in such a way that catches of

species mentioned in Annex IV are minimal,

— vessels are subject to special fishing permits issued in

accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1627/94.

These measures shall be communicated to the Commis-
sion before 31 December 2000.’

4.

in Article 6,

the following paragraph shall be inserted:

The use of

‘1a.
fishing gear under the conditions of
the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be prohib-
ited unless
the Member State concerned has enacted
measures ensuring that for these fisheries:

Article 2

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

It shall apply as from 1 June 2000.

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

Done at Brussels, 17 November 2000.

For the Council

The President

J. GLAVANY