Council Regulation (EC) No 1568/2005 of 20 September 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 850/98 as regards the protection of deep-water coral reefs from the effects of fishing in certain areas of the Atlantic Ocean
Date: 2005-09-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Atlantic Ocean, conservation of fish stocks, fishery resources, fishing area, fishing regulations

L 252/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.9.2005

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1568/2005

of 20 September 2005

amending Regulation (EC) No 850/98 as regards the protection of deep-water coral reefs from the
effects of fishing in certain areas of the Atlantic Ocean

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of
20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable
fisheries resources under the common
exploitation of
fisheries policy (2) provides that the common fisheries
policy is to apply the precautionary approach in taking
measures to minimise the impact of fishing activities on
marine ecosystems.

the

conservation of

Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998
for
through
juveniles of
technical measures for the protection of
marine organisms (3) establishes restrictions on the use
of demersal towed gears.

fishery resources

for

the

reports of

International Council

According to recent scientific reports, and in particular
the
the
Exploration of
the Sea (ICES), highly sensitive deep-
water habitats have been found and mapped in the
Atlantic. Those habitats host
important and highly
diverse biological communities and are considered to
require priority protection.
they are
defined as habitats of Community interest in Council
Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conser-
vation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and
flora (4).
reefs have
recently been included in a list of endangered habitats
in the framework of the Convention for the Protection of
the North-East Atlantic
the Marine Environment of
(‘OSPAR Convention’).

Furthermore, deep-water

In particular,

coral

(1) Opinion delivered on 16 December 2004 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(2) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
(3) OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 602/2004 (OJ L 97, 1.4.2004, p. 30).

(4) OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

(4)

(5)

(6)

The protection of these areas from the adverse impact of
fishing is entirely consistent with, and required, under
the 1995 UN Fish Stocks
Articles 5 and 6 of
Agreement (5), in particular the provisions requiring the
application of
the precautionary approach and the
protection of biodiversity in the marine environment.

According to scientific evidence, recovery from damage
to these habitats produced by fishing gear is either
impossible or very difficult and slow.
is therefore
appropriate to prohibit the use of fishing gear likely to
cause damage to habitats in areas where these are still in
a favourable conservation status.

It

The waters around the Azores, Madeira and Canary
Islands contain several known or potential deep water
habitats that have until recently been preserved from
trawling due to the special access regime defined in
Council Regulation (EC) No 2027/95 of 15 June 1995
fishing
establishing a system for the management of
effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and
resources (6). Regulation (EC) No 2027/95 was repealed
by Council Regulation 1954/2003 of 4 November 2003
the fishing effort relating to
on the management of
certain Community fishing areas and resources (7).

(7)

Therefore,
it is appropriate to ensure the protection of
those areas through an extension of the restrictions on
the use of demersal gears contained in Regulation (EC)
No 850/98.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 850/98 should therefore be amended
accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 850/98, the following
paragraph shall be added:

‘5.
Vessels shall be prohibited from using any gillnet,
entangling net or trammel net at depths greater than 200
metres and any bottom trawl or
towed nets
operating in contact with the bottom of the sea in the
areas bounded by a line joining the following coordinates:

similar

(5) United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions
of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10
December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of
Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks.

(6) OJ L 199, 24.8.1995, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 289, 7.11.2003, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(a) area named “Madeira and Canaries”

Latitude 27° 00′ N
Latitude 26° 00′ N
Latitude 29° 00′ N
Latitude 36° 00′ N
Latitude 36° 00′ N

longitude 19° 00′ W
longitude 15° 00′ W
longitude 13° 00′ W
longitude 13° 00′ W
longitude 19° 00′ W

(b) area named “Azores”

Latitude 36° 00′ N
Latitude 39° 00′ N

longitude 23° 00′ W
longitude 23° 00′ W

Latitude 42° 00′ N
Latitude 42° 00′ N
Latitude 39° 00′ N
Latitude 36° 00′ N

longitude 26° 00′ W
longitude 31° 00′ W
longitude 34° 00′ W
longitude 34° 00′ W’.

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 20 September 2005.

For the Council
The President

M. BECKETT