Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 fixing for 2003 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where limitations in catch are required
Date: 2003-04-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU waters, conservation of fish stocks, fishery management, fishing controls, fishing regulations

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 03.04.2003
COM(2003) 165 final

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 fixing for 2003 the fishing opportunities and
associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in
Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where limitations in catch
are required

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2341/2002  included,  as  Annex  XVII,  a  temporary  scheme  of
effort management applicable to all fisheries likely to catch cod in the North sea and the West
of Scotland.

The Commission has consulted with the concerned Member States on the implementation of
the  scheme  of  Annex  XVII.  These  consultations  have  shown  that  a  series  of  provisions
needed further clarification as to the exact way to apply them in practice. In some other cases,
the provisions of Annex XVII have shown to be too rigid to allow an effective, fair and non-
discriminatory application.

In these respects, the questions identified were the following:

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– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

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prevention of new entrants into fisheries where they do not have a track record;

correcting  the  definition  of  the  area  to  be  covered  (i.e.  to  include  the  entire  closed
area of 2001);

the need for a more flexible definition of the ‘days out of port’;

clarification  of  how  to  calculate  days  out  of  port  for  vessels  that  fish  inside  and
outside the areas concerned by Annex XVII in the same trip;

clarification of how to calculate days out of port for vessels changing gear (and thus
category in Annex XVII) during the same month;

allowing the transfer of fishing days from smaller to larger vessels without increase
in total fishing effort;

clarification that innocent passage through the area concerned to fish elsewhere is not
subject to limitation of days.

special  provisions  (more  fair  treatment)  for  a  fleet  segment  fishing  with  very  large
mesh sizes and very low impact on cod.

extension of the possibility to add additional days through scrapping programmes to
all fleet segments

provisions for cases of force majeure.

The  present  proposal  intends  to  introduce  the  necessary  amendments  to  Annex  XVII  of
Regulation 2341/2002.

The Council is requested to adopt this proposal as soon as possible in order to allow Member
States and fishermen a more effective implementation of the effort management scheme

2

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 fixing for 2003 the fishing opportunities and
associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in
Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where limitations in catch
are required

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having  regard  to  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2371/20021  of  20  December  2002  on  the
conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries
Policy, and in particular Article 20(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission2,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Annex  XVII  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2341/20023  lays  down  a  temporary  scheme  of
effort management applicable to all fisheries likely to catch cod in the North Sea and
the West of Scotland.

The implementation of that Annex XVII has shown that certain of its provisions need
to be either clarified or made more flexible, in order to improve its  applicability  and
effectiveness.

It  is  necessary  to  ensure  that  any  change  to  the  scheme  does  not  result  in  a  lesser
conservation value for the measures in question.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 2341/2002 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex XVII to Regulation  (EC)  No  2341/2002  is  replaced  by  the  text  in  the  Annex  to  this
Regulation.

1

2

3

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
OJ C […], […], p. […].
OJ L 356, 31.12.2002, p. 12.

3

                                                
This Regulation shall enter into force on the first day following that of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 2

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

Done at Brussels, […]

For the Council
The President

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ANNEX

“ANNEX XVII”

FISHING EFFORT AND ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS FOR MONITORING,
INSPECTIONAND SURVEILLANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF RECOVERY OF
CERTAIN COD STOCKS

FISHING EFFORT

1. 

2. 

From 1 February 2003 to 31 December 2003, the conditions laid down in this Annex
shall apply to Community fishing vessels of length overall equal to or greater than 10
metres.

For the purposes of this Annex, the following definitions of geographical areas shall
apply:

(a)

That part of ICES Division IIIa bounded on the  north  by  a  line  drawn  from
the Skagen lighthouse  to  the  Tistlarna  lighthouse  and  from  this  point  to  the
nearest  point  on  the  Swedish  coast  and  on  the  south  by  a  line  drawn  from
Hasenøre to Gnibens Spids, from Korshage to Spodsbjerg and from Gilbjerg
Hoved to Kullen.

(b)

That part of Division IIIa not covered by the area specified in subparagraph
(a) and ICES Sub-area IV excluding the following ICES statistical rectangles:

52E6, 52E7, 52E8, 52E9, 52F0, 52F1, 52F2, 52F3, 52F4

51E6, 51E7, 51E8, 51E9, 51F0, 51F1, 51F2, 51F3, 51F4

50E6, 50E7 1, 50E8 1, 50F2 2, 50F3, 50F4

49E6 1, 49E7 1, 49F3, 49F4

48F3, 48F4

47F3 3, 47F4, 47F5

46F33, 46F4, 46F5

45F34, 45F45, 45F5, 45F6

44F45, 44F55, 44F6

1

2

3

4

5

North of a straight line drawn between 60º00'N, 04º03W and 61º00'N, 01º43'W.
North of a straight line drawn between 61º00'N, 02º00'E and 60º30'N 03º00'E.
East of a straight line drawn between 59º30'N, 03º00'E and 59º00'N, 03º30'E.
East of 03º30'E.
North of a straight line drawn between 58º30'N, 03º30'E and 57º30'N, 05º30'E.

5

                                                
(c)

ICES Division VIa excluding that part which lies to the west of a line drawn
by  sequentially  joining  with  straight  lines  the  following  geographical
coordinates:

60º00'N, 04º00'W

59º45'N, 05º00'W

59º30'N, 06º00'W

59º00'N, 07º00'W

58°30'N, 08°00'W

58°00'N, 08°00'W

58°00'N, 08°30'W

56°00'N, 08°30'W

56°00'N, 09°00'W

55°00'N, 09°00'W

55°00'N, 10°00'W

54°30'N, 10°00'W.

3. 

For the purposes of this Annex a day absent from port shall be:

(a)

the 24-hour period between 00:00 Hrs of a calendar day and 24:00 Hrs of the
same calendar day or any part of such a time period;

or

(b)

any continuous period of 24 hours from the time of departure from port or any
part of any such time period.

A Member State which wishes to employ the definition of a day absent from
port  laid  down  under  (b)  shall  notify  the  Commission  of  the  means  of
monitoring  the  activities  of  a  vessel  to  ensure  compliance  with  these
conditions.

4.

For the purpose of this Annex, the following definitions of fishing gears shall apply:

(a)

demersal trawls, seines or similar towed gears of mesh size equal to or greater
than 100 mm except beam trawls;

(b)

beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm;

(c)

static demersal nets including gill nets, trammel nets and tangle nets;

(d)

demersal longlines;

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(e)

(f)

demersal  trawls,  seines  or  similar  towed  gears  of  mesh  size  between  70 mm
and 99 mm except beam trawls;

demersal  trawls,  seines  or  similar  towed  gears  of  mesh  size  between  16 mm
and 31 mm except beam trawls.

5.

(a)
Each  Member  State  shall  ensure  that,  when  carrying  on  board  any  of  the
fishing gears defined in paragraph 4, fishing vessels flying its flag and registered in
the  Community  shall  be  absent  from  port  and  present  within  the  areas  specified  in
paragraph  2  for  no  more  than  the  number  of  days  specified  in  paragraph  6  or
paragraph 9.

(b) Days absent from port and spent in areas other than those specified in paragraph 2
shall  not  be  counted  against  the  number  of  days  specified  in  paragraph  6  or
paragraph 9.

(c) The conditions of paragraph (a) shall not apply to vessels which operate under the
conditions laid down in paragraph 7(b).

6.

(a)
The number of days in each calendar month on which a vessel may be absent
from port while carrying on board any of the fishing gears defined in paragraph 4 are :

Gear defined in paragraph:

4a

4b

4c

4d

4e

4f

defined

Area 
in paragraph:

2a

2b

2c

(b)

(c)

9

9

9

0

15

15

16

16

16

19

19

19

25

25

25

23

23

23

Additional  days  to  compensate  for  adjustment  to  the  newly  installed  effort
management  scheme  may  be  allocated  to  the  Member  States  by  the
Commission.

An additional number of days on which a vessel may be absent from port while
carrying on board any of the gears defined in paragraph 4 may be provisionally
allocated  to  Member  States  by  the  Commission  on  the  basis  of  the  achieved
results  or  the  expected  results  of  decommissioning  programmes  in  2002  and
2003 for vessels affected by the provisions of this Annex.

(d)
Member States benefiting from the allocation under paragraph (c) shall report
to  the  Commission  before  the  end  of  March,  May,  July,  September,  and  November
respectively  on 
their  decommissioning
in 
programmes. On the basis of these reports, the Commission may amend the number of
days defined in paragraph (c).

the  progress  made 

implementing 

(e)
Notwithstanding  the  conditions  laid  down  in  paragraph  (a),  a  Member  State
may  permit  any  of  its  vessels  fishing  with  demersal  trawls,  seines  or  similar  towed

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gears  of  mesh  size  equal  to  or  greater  than  120mm  to  spend  no  more  than  16  days
absent from port provided that:

(i) the Member State has previously notified the Commission of its intention to do so
and

(ii) the  Member State has verified  from the  track record  of  that  vessel  that  less  than
5% of the landings in live weight by that vessel during 2002 was comprised of cod and

(iii)  The  Member  State  verifies  that  the  track  record  for  that  vessel  for  the  month
terminating  two  months  prior  to  the  start  of  the  current  month  confirms  that  its
landings in that previous month comprised no more than 5% of cod.

Vessels benefiting from the provisions laid down in this paragraph shall not be eligible
for additional days allocated under paragraph (b).

7.

(a)
A vessel which is present within any of the areas defined  in paragraph 2 and
carrying  on  board  any  of  the  fishing  gears  defined  in  paragraph  4  may  not
simultaneously carry on board any of the other gears defined in paragraph 4.

(b)

Notwithstanding the conditions of paragraph (a), a vessel present within any of
the areas defined in paragraph 2 may carry simultaneously on board more than
one of the fishing gears defined in paragraph 4 but may not deploy within any
of the areas defined in paragraph 2 any of these fishing gears. While that vessel
is within any of the areas defined in paragraph 2, any such fishing gears must
be lashed and stowed in accordance with conditions laid down in Article 20(1)
of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2847/93  of  12  October  1993  establishing  a  control
system applicable to the Common Fisheries Policy4.

A  vessel  which  has  deployed  any  one  of  the  defined  gears  within  any  one  of  the
specified  areas  may  not  deploy  the  same  gear  in  a  different  area  on  more  days  than
those  specified  in  paragraph  6  for  a  month  or  for  an  alternative  period  determined
under the conditions of paragraph 11 minus the total number of the days on which this
gear  has  already  been  deployed  in  any  of  the  other  specified  areas  in  that  month  or
alternative time period.

During  a  month  or  during  a  two-month  period  determined  under  the  conditions  laid
down in paragraph 11 a vessel may deploy only two of the gears defined in paragraph
4.  These  gears  may  be  deployed  only  on  different  days.  The  total  number  of  days
available to such vessels shall be no more than half the sum of the days  allocated to
each gear according to paragraph 6. Within this total number, it shall not be permitted
to deploy any one of the gears concerned for more days than two-thirds of those laid
down with respect to that gear in paragraph 6.

8.

9.

10.

A Member State may permit any of its fishing vessels to transfer a maximum
(a)
of 20% of the days to which it is eligible from a month to the next month or from an
alternative  time  period  determined  under  the  conditions  of  paragraph  11  to  the  next
month or alternative time period.

4

OJ L 274, 25.09.1986, p.1.

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(b)
A Member State may permit any of its fishing vessels to transfer days to which
it  is  eligible  for  a  given  month  or  an  alternative  time  period  determined  under  the
conditions of paragraph 11 to another of its vessels:

(i) when the vessel receiving days has an installed engine power equal to or less than
that of the vessel contributing days

or

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(ii) when the installed engine power of the vessel receiving days is greater than that of
the vessel contributing days, provided that the product of the days received by a vessel
multiplied by the installed engine power in kilowatts of that vessel is equal to or less
than  the  product  of  the  days  transferred  by  the  smaller  vessel  multiplied  by  the
installed  engine  power  in  kilowatts  of  that  vessel.  The  kilowatts  of  the  larger  vessel
and  the  smaller  vessel  shall  be  those  recorded  for  each  vessel  in  the  register  of
Community fishing vessels.

(c) The transfer of days defined in paragraph 6 and referred to in paragraph (b) shall
not  be  permitted  between  the  fishing  gears  defined  in  paragraph  4  or  between  the
geographical areas defined in paragraph 2.

11.

A Member State may permit any of its vessels to aggregate days absence from port

(a)

within any period of no more than two consecutive months and;

(b)
within any period of no more than  four consecutive months when it has been
decided that the  vessels  of  that Member  State will remain  in  port  during  any part of
that period to avoid the capture of spawning fish.

A Member State shall not permit fishing with any of the gears defined in paragraph 4
in any area defined in paragraph 2 by any of its vessels which have no record of such
fishing activity in 2001 or 2002.

A Member State shall not count against the days allocated to any of its vessels under
paragraph 6 or  paragraph 9 any  days when the vessel has been absent from port  but
has  been  unable  to  fish  due  to  exceptional  circumstances  including  mechanical
breakdown or adverse weather conditions. The Member State concerned shall provide
justification to the Commission of any decisions taken on this basis.

MONITORING, INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE

The  provisions  of  Title  IIA  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2847/93  shall  apply  insofar  as
they concern reporting obligations to flag states to vessels of length overall equal to or
greater  than  10  metres  deploying  the  fishing  gears  defined  in  paragraph  4  and
operating in the areas defined in paragraph 2.

The  master  of  a  fishing  vessel,  or  his  representative,  prior  to  any  entry  to  port  of  a
Member State with more than 1 tonne of cod on board his vessel shall inform, at least
four hours in advance  of such  entry, the competent authorities of that Member  State
of:

12.

13.

14.

15.

– 

– 

– 

– 

the port,

the estimated time of arrival at that port,

the quantities in kilograms live weight of cod retained on board,

the quantities in kilograms live weight of cod to be landed.

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The competent authorities of a Member State in which a landing of more than 1 tonne
of  cod  is  to  be  made,  may  require  that  the  discharge  does  not  commence  until
authorised by those authorities.

16. Whenever more than 2 tonnes of cod are to be landed from a fishing vessel, the master
of the vessel shall ensure that such landings are made only at designated ports.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

Each Member State shall designate ports into which any landing of cod in excess of 2
tonnes shall take place.

Each  Member  State  shall  transmit  to  the  Commission  within  15  days  of  the  date  of
entry  into  force  of  this  Regulation  the  list  of  designated  ports  and,  within  30  days
thereafter, associated inspection  and surveillance  procedures  including  the  terms  and
conditions for recording and reporting the quantities of cod within each landing. The
Commission shall transmit this information to all Member States.

It shall be prohibited to retain on board a fishing vessel in any individual box or other
container any quantity of cod mixed with any other species of marine organism.

The masters of the fishing vessels shall provide the necessary assistance to inspectors
of Member States to enable the quantities declared in the logbook and the catches of
cod retained on board to be cross-checked for verification purposes.

The  competent  authorities  of  a  Member  State  may  require  that  any  quantity  of  cod
caught  in  any  of  the  areas  specified  in  paragraph  2  and  first  landed  in  that  Member
State is weighed before being transported from the port of first landing.

By  way  of  derogation  from  the  conditions  laid  down  in  Article  13  of  Council
Regulation (EEC)  No  2847/93,  all  quantities  of  cod  caught  in  any  of  the  areas
specified in paragraph 2 which are transported to a place other than that of landing or
import  shall  be  accompanied  by  a  copy  of  one  of  the  declarations  provided  for  in
Article 8(1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 pertaining to the quantities of
these species transported. The exemption provided for in Article 13(4)(b) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall not apply.

ELIGIBILITY FOR DECOMMISSIONING AID

23.

The measures described in this Annex shall be considered as part of a recovery plan
under Council Regulation (EC) No 2370/2002 establishing an emergency Community
measure for scrapping fishing vessels5.

5

OJ L 358, 31.12.02, p. 57.

11