Commission Regulation (EC) No 1281/2005 of 3 August 2005 on the management of fishing licences and the minimal information to be contained therein
Date: 2005-08-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common fisheries policy, exchange of information, fishery management, fishing controls, fishing fleet, fishing licence

4.8.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 203/3

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1281/2005

of 3 August 2005

on the management of fishing licences and the minimal information to be contained therein

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20
December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploi-
tation of
the Common Fisheries
Policy (1), and in particular Article 13(3) and Article 22(3),

fishery resources under

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

It is necessary to establish at Community level rules on
the minimum information to be contained in a fishing
licence in order to facilitate and ensure a homogeneous
control of fishing activities, and in particular information
on the licence holder, the vessel, the fishing capacity and
the fishing gear.

a

in

of

fleets

fishing

fishing

licence

relevant

registered

constitutes

The
fleet
management tool, in particular concerning the capacity
limitations as laid down in Articles 12 and 13 of Regu-
lation (EC) No 2371/2002 and in Council Regulation
(EC) No 639/2004 of 30 March 2004 on the
management
the
Community outermost regions (2). The total capacity of
a Member State’s fleet as expressed in the licences issued
may not exceed those limitations and in particular the
levels arising from the application of Commission Regu-
lations (EC) No 1438/2003 of 12 August 2003 laying
down implementing rules on the Community Fleet Policy
as defined in Chapter III of Council Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002 (3) and (EC) No 2104/2004 of 9 December
for
2004 laying down detailed implementing rules
the
on
Council Regulation
management
the
in
of
Community outermost regions.

639/2004
registered

(EC) No

fishing

fleets

for

the

vessel

in order

According to Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002, the fishing licence must be withdrawn by
a Member State
to be
withdrawn from the fleet with public aid. The capacity
corresponding to that licence cannot be replaced. On the
other hand,
the withdrawal of a vessel has not
benefited from public aid, the capacity and the capacity
licence are replaceable as long as the provisions of
Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002
on reference levels and the entry/exit regime of the fleet
are respected.

if

information contained in the

The
correspond
to the
Community fishing fleet register.

licence
information contained

should
in the

The information included in the licence should be set out
in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No
2930/86 of 22 September 1986 defining characteristics
for fishing vessels (4) and Commission Regulation (EC)
No 26/2004 of 30 December 2003 on the Community
fishing fleet register (5).

system laying

Council Regulation (EC) No 3690/93 (6) established a
Community
the
contained in fishing
minimum information to be
licences. The present Regulation should apply from the
date of repeal of that Regulation.

down

rules

for

The measures
accordance with the opinion of
Fisheries and Aquaculture,

envisaged in this Regulation are

in
the Committee for

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(3) With regard to the importance of the fishing licence as
an instrument for both fleet management and control
and inspection of fishing activities, Member States must
ensure that the information contained in the licence is
clear and unambiguous and corresponds at all times to
the actual situation.

Article 1

Subject-matter

This Regulation lays down rules for the management of fishing
licences, as referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002,
the minimum information to be
contained therein.

and for

(1) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
(2) OJ L 102, 7.4.2004, p. 9.
(3) OJ L 204, 13.4.2003, p. 21. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 916/2004 (OJ L 163, 30.4.2004, p. 81).

(4) OJ L 274, 25.9.1986, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 3259/94 (OJ L 339, 29.12.1994, p. 11).

(5) OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 25.
(6) OJ L 341, 31.12.1993, p. 93.

L 203/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

4.8.2005

Article 2

Definition

Article 6

Suspension and withdrawal

For the purposes of this Regulation, a “fishing licence” confers
on its holder the right, as limited by national rules, to use a
certain fishing capacity for commercial exploitation of living
aquatic resources.

Article 3

Exploitation of aquatic resources

A Community fishing vessel may only be used for commercial
exploitation of living aquatic resources if it has a valid fishing
licence on board.

Article 4

Obligations of the Member States

1.
The flag Member State shall suspend temporarily the
fishing licence of a vessel which is subject to temporary immo-
bilization decided by that Member State.

2.
The flag Member State shall withdraw definitively the
fishing licence of a vessel which is affected by a capacity
adjustment measure referred to in Article 11 paragraph 3 of
the Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Article 7

Coherence with measures of fleet capacity management

At any moment the total capacity corresponding to the fishing
licences issued by a Member State, in GT and in kW, shall not
be higher than the maximum capacity levels for that Member
State established in accordance with Articles 12 and 13 of
Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and Regulations
(EC) No
639/2004, 1438/2003 and (EC) No 2104/2004.

The flag Member State shall issue, manage and withdraw the
fishing licence in accordance with this Regulation.

Article 8

Article 5

Minimum Information to be contained in the fishing
licence

The fishing licence shall contain at least the information

1.
set out in the annex to the present regulation.

The information contained in the fishing licence shall be

2.
updated by the flag Member State in case of changes.

3.
The flag Member State shall ensure that the information
contained in the fishing licence is accurate and consistent with
that contained in the Community fishing fleet register referred
to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

1.
Each flag Member State shall ensure that, not later than
12 months from the date of application of this Regulation, all
its licences are in accordance with this Regulation.

Until all

2.
licences have been issued by the flag Member
State in accordance with this regulation, the licences issued in
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 3690/93 shall be
considered to be valid licences.

Article 9

Entry into force and application

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

It shall apply from the date of repeal of Regulation (EC) No
3690/93.

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

Done at Brussels, 3 August 2005.

For the Commission

Joe BORG
Member of the Commission

4.8.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 203/5

ANNEX

Minimum information

I.

IDENTIFICATION

A. VESSEL (1)
1. Community fleet register number (‘CFR’ (*)).

2. Name of the vessel (2)

3. Flag state/Country of registration (*)

4. Port of registration (Name and national code (*))

5. External marking (*)

6. International Radio Call Sign (IRCS (*)) (3)

B. LICENCE HOLDER/SHIP-OWNER/VESSEL AGENT

1. Name and address of the licence holder

2. Name and address of the ship-owner (1)

3. Name and address of the vessel agent (1)

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF FISHING CAPACITY

1. Engine Power (kW) (**)

2. Tonnage (GT) (**)

3. Length overall (**) (1)

4. Main fishing gear (*) (1)

5. Subsidiary fishing gear (*) (1)

(*) In accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 26/2004.
(**) In accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 2930/86.
(1) This information shall be indicated on the fishing licence only at the moment when the vessel is registered in the Community fishing

fleet register in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 26/2004.

(2) For vessels having a name.
(3) For vessels requested to have an IRCS.