Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 as concerns fishing opportunities for deep sea species for the Member States which acceded in 2004
Date: 2004-10-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accession to the European Union, authorised catch, catch by species, catch quota, fishery management, fishing fleet, fishing regulations

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.10.2004 
COM(2004) 685 final 

. 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 as 
concerns fishing opportunities for deep sea species for the Member States which 
acceded in 2004  

. 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In 2002 the Council established quotas for a number of deep-sea species in some sea areas in 
the  North-East  Atlantic  (Regulation  2340/20021).  These  limitations  on  catches  were 
established following scientific advice that these stocks were vulnerable and required urgent 
conservation measures. The Council also established a limit on the size of the fleets permitted 
to  land  significant  amounts  of  deep-sea  species,  and  this  limit  was  established,  through 
Council Regulation 2347/20022, at the largest size of the fleet that had landed more than ten 
tonnes per vessel per year in the three-year period prior to beginning the process of deciding 
the allocation of fishing opportunities. 

According  to  Article  57  of  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  it  is  appropriate  now  to 
determine fishing  oportunities for accession states by the  same  method  that was adopted by 
Council when deciding fishing opportunities in 2002. 

Quotas 

This  proposal  provides  for  fishing  opportunities  for  accession  states  using  the  method 
previously used by the Commission in formulating its proposal concerning the establishment 
of the existing quotas for deep-sea species. For each species and each quota management area, 
the official record of catches in a reference period of ten years (as submitted to international 
organisations) has been examined, and the Commission proposal has been based on these data 
in proposing additional fishing opportunities for each accession state.  

This requires an amendment to Council Regulation 2340/2002 which fixes for 2003 and 2004 
the fishing opportunities for deep-sea species. 

Fleet Capacity 

The EC-15 states established a limit on the size of the fleet permitted to land deep-sea species 
according  to  the  size  of  the  fleet  that  had  fished  for  these  species  in  three  years  prior  to 
deciding to bring these species under regulation. As the accession states were not party to the 
decision at that time, it is appropriate now to decide limits on the sizes of their fleets by the 
same method.   

This requires an amendment to Council Regulation 2347/2002 which establishes the specific 
access requirements and associated conditions applicable to fishing for deep-sea stocks. 

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2 

OJ L 356, 31.12.2002, p. 1. 
OJ L 351, 28.12.2002, p. 6. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 as 
concerns fishing opportunities for deep sea species for the Member States which 
acceded in 2004  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia 3, and in particular Article 57 (2)  

Having regard to the proposal of the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

In the 2003 Act of Accession no adaptation was made to Council Regulation (EC) No 
2340/2002  of  16  December  2002  fixing  for  2003  and  2004  the  fishing  opportunities 
for  deep-sea  fish  stocks4  to  allocate  fishing  opportunities  for  deep  sea  species  to  the 
new Member States. It is therefore appropriate to allocate such fishing opportunities to 
the new Member States for 2004 taking into account their interests.  

The allocation of fishing opportunities should not lead to the result that catches legally 
taken  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the  present  Regulation  are  liable  to  quota 
deductions under Article 23 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/935, Article 5 
of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  847/966  or  Article  26  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
2371/2002. 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2347/2002  of  16  December  2002  establishing  specific 
access  requirements  and  associated  conditions  applicable  to  fishing  for  deep  sea 
stocks7  lays  down  power  and  capacity  ceilings  on  the  fishing  fleet  that  may  land 
significant  quantities  of  deep-sea  species,  and  determines  a  reference  period  for 
establishing  those  ceilings,  namely  the  three  years  prior  to  its  entry  into  force.  It  is 
appropriate that similar measures should apply to the new Member States, taking into 
account the later date of application of that Regulation to those States. 

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5 

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7 

OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 1. 
OJ L 356, 31.12.2002, p.1. 
OJ  L  261,  20.10.1993,  p.  1.  Regulation  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  1954/2003 
(OJ L 289, 7.11.2003, p. 1). 
OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3. 
OJ L 351, 28.12.2002, p. 6. 

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(4) 

Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 and Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 should therefore 
be amended accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 is amended as follows:  

(1) 

The following Article 3a is inserted: 

”Article 3a  

1. 

2. 

The catches between 1 January and 1 May 2004 taken by vessels from the Member 
States  which  acceded  in  2004  shall  be  counted  against  the  quotas  laid  down  in 
Annex I.  

By [15 days after the date of entry into force of this Regulation] the Member States 
referred to in paragraph 1 shall notify the Commission of the amount of their catches 
between 1 January and 1 May 2004.” 

(2) 

The following Article 4a is inserted: 

“Article 4a 

Article 23 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 and 
Article 26 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 shall not apply to catches taken before [date of 
entry into force of this Regulation] in excess of the quota determined in Annex I to Regulation 
(EC) No 2340/2002 by vessels from the Member States which acceded in 2004.” . 

(3) 

Annex I is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation. 

Article 2 

In Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 the following paragraph is added: 

” 3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the Member States which acceded in 2004 shall 
calculate the aggregate power and the aggregate volume of their vessels which, in any one of 
the years 2000, 2001 or 2002, have landed more than 10 tonnes of any mixture of deep-sea 
species. These aggregate values shall be communicated to the Commission.” 

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Article 3 

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

It shall apply from 1 May 2004. 

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 I to Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 is amended as follows: 

ANNEX  

(1) The entry concerning the species Black Scabbardfish in Zone V, VI, VII, XII is replaced 
by the following:  

V,  VI,  VII,  XII  (Community  waters  and  waters  not 
under 
third 
countries) 

the  sovereignty  or 

jurisdiction  of 

(1)  Exclusively  for  by-catches.  No  directed  fisheries 
are permitted under this quota.’ 

”5. Species: 

Black scabbardfish 
Aphanopus carbo 

Zone: 

Germany 

Estonia  
Spain  
France 
Ireland 
Lithuania 
Poland 
United Kingdom 
Others(1) 
EC 

37  

348  
185  
2600  
93  
38  
20  
185  
10  
3571  

The  entry  concerning  the  species  Roundnose  Grenadier  in  Zone  Vb,  VI,  VII  is 

(2) 
replaced by the following: 

”23. Species: 

Roundnose grenadier 

Zone: 

Vb, VI, VII(Community waters and waters not under 
the sovereignty or jurisdiction of third countries) 

Coryphaenoides rupestris  

(1)  Exclusively  for  by-catches.  No  directed  fisheries 
are permitted under this quota. “ 

Germany 

Estonia 
Spain 
France 
Ireland 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Poland 
United Kingdom 
Others(1) 
EC 

10  

87  
86  
4 396  
346  
38  
154  
795  
258  
10  
6180  

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(3) The entry concerning the species Blue Ling in Zone VI,VII is replaced by the following: 

“31. Species: 

Blue ling 

Zone: 

VI, VII (Community waters and waters not under the 
sovereignty or jurisdiction of third countries) 

 Molva dypterygia 

(1)  Exclusively  for  by-catches.  No  directed  fisheries 
are permitted under this quota. “ 

Germany 

Estonia  
Spain  
France 
Ireland 
Lithuania 
Poland 
United Kingdom 
Others(1) 
EC 

39  

5  
122  
2788  
10  
4  
2  
709  
10  
3689  

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