Council Regulation (EC) No 1139/2008 of 10 November 2008 fixing the fishing opportunities and the conditions relating thereto for certain fish stocks applicable in the Black Sea for 2009
Date: 2008-11-10
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Black Sea, authorised catch, fishery management, fishery resources, fishing regulations, fishing rights

19.11.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1139/2008

of 10 November 2008

fixing the fishing opportunities and the conditions relating thereto for certain fish stocks applicable
in the Black Sea for 2009

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

take into account the fishing activities of other Black Sea
coastal States.

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 20 thereof,

resources under

fisheries

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May
year-to-year
1996 introducing
and in particular
management of TACs
Article 2 thereof,

and quotas (2),

conditions

additional

for

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

to adopt

to areas and resources and the

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 requires the
the necessary measures governing
Council
access
sustainable
pursuit of fishing activities taking account of available
scientific advice and,
in particular, the report prepared
by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee
for Fisheries.

Under Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, the
Council establishes the fishing opportunities by fishery or
group of fisheries and the allocation of those opportu­
nities to Member States.

In order to ensure effective management of the fishing
opportunities, the specific conditions under which fishing
operations are carried out should be established.

Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 lays down
definitions of
fishing
opportunities.

the allocation of

relevance for

In accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No
847/96,
to the various
measures provided for therein must be identified.

that are subject

the stocks

In order to contribute to the conservation of fish stocks,
certain supplementary measures relating to the technical
conditions of fishing should be implemented in 2009.

The reduction in the total allowable catch (TAC) for sprat
should not affect its future stock levels, which should

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

Fishing opportunities should be used in accordance with
Community legislation on the subject, in particular with
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October
1993 establishing a control system applicable to the
common fisheries policy (3) and Council Regulation
(EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation
of fishery resources through technical measures for the
protection of juveniles of marine organisms (4).

Bearing in mind that in one Member State, before the
entry into force of this Regulation, nets with a mesh size
inferior to 400 mm were traditionally used to catch
turbot, and in order to allow adequate adaptation to
the technical measures introduced in this Regulation,
that Member State shall be
vessels flying the flag of
turbot using nets with a
permitted to fish for
minimum mesh size of no less than 360 mm.

In order to ensure proper enforcement and control, the
mesh size should be measured in accordance with
Commission Regulation (EC) No 517/2008 of 10 June
2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation
of Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 as regards the
the mesh size and assessing the
determination of
thickness of twine of fishing nets (5).

In view of the urgency of the matter, it is imperative to
grant an exception to the six-week period referred to in
paragraph I(3) of the Protocol on the role of national
Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the
Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties estab­
lishing the European Communities,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

SUBJECT-MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject-matter

This Regulation fixes fishing opportunities for the year 2009 for
certain fish stocks in the Black Sea and the specific conditions
under which such fishing opportunities may be used.

(1) OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.
(2) OJ L 115, 9.5.1996, p. 3.

(3) OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 125, 27.4.1998, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 151, 11.6.2008, p. 5.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to Community fishing vessels

1.
(Community vessels) operating in the Black Sea.

2.
By way of derogation from paragraph 1, this Regulation
shall not apply to fishing operations conducted solely for the
purpose of scientific investigations, which are carried out with
the permission and under the authority of the Member State
concerned, and of which the Commission and the Member
State, in the waters of which the research is carried out, have
been informed in advance.

Article 3

Definitions

In addition to the definitions laid down in Article 3 of Regu­
lation (EC) No 2371/2002, for the purposes of this Regulation
the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

‘GFCM’ means General Fisheries Commission for the Medi­
terranean;

(b) ‘Black Sea’ means

the GFCM geographical

sub-area as

defined in resolution GFCM/31/2007/2;

(c)

‘total allowable catch (TAC)’ means the quantity that can be
taken from each stock each year;

(d) ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the

Community, a Member State or a third country.

CHAPTER II

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES AND THE CONDITIONS RELATING
THERETO

Article 4

Catch limits and allocations

The catch limits, the allocation of such limits among Member
to
States, and the additional conditions applicable pursuant
Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 are set out in Annex
I to this Regulation.

Article 5

Special provisions on allocations

The allocation of catch limits among Member States as set out
in Annex I shall be without prejudice to:

1. exchanges made pursuant to Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC)

No 2371/2002;

2. reallocations made pursuant

to Articles 21(4), 23(1) and
32(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 and the second sub­
paragraph of Article 23(4) of Regulation (EC) No
2371/2002;

3. additional

landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation

(EC) No 847/96;

4. deductions made pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No
847/96 and the first subparagraph of Article 23(4) of Regu­
lation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Article 6

Conditions for catches and by-catches

1.
Fish from stocks for which catch limits are fixed shall be
retained on board or landed only if the catches have been taken
by fishing vessels of a Member State with a quota and that
quota has not been exhausted.

All

landings shall count against

2.
the
Community share has not been allocated among Member
States by quotas, against the Community share.

the quota or,

if

Article 7

Transitional technical measures

The transitional
Annex II.

technical measures shall be as set out

in

CHAPTER III

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 8

Data transmission

When Member States send data to the Commission relating to
landings of quantities of stocks caught pursuant to Article 15(1)
of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, they shall use the stock codes
set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 9

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

into force on the day of

its

It shall apply from 1 January 2009.

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

Done at Brussels, 10 November 2008.

For the Council
The President

B. KOUCHNER

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ANNEX I

Catch limits and the conditions relating thereto for year-to-year management of catch limits applicable to
Community vessels in areas where catch limits have been fixed by species and by area

The following tables set out the TAC’s and quotas (in tonnes live weight, except where otherwise specified) by stock, the
allocation to the Member States and associated conditions for year-to-year management of the quotas.

Within each area, fish stocks are referred to following the alphabetical order of the Latin names of the species. For the
purposes of these tables the codes used for the different species are as follows:

Scientific name

Psetta maxima

Sprattus sprattus

Alpha-3 code

Common name

TUR

SPR

Turbot

Sprat

Species:

Turbot
Psetta maxima

Zone:

Black Sea

Bulgaria

Romania

EC

TAC

50

50

100 (1)

Not relevant

Precautionary TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 applies.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 applies.

(1) Preliminary TAC. The final TAC shall be set, in the light of new scientific advice, in a timely manner during the course of the first half

of 2009.

Species:

Sprat
Sprattus sprattus

Zone:

Black Sea

EC

TAC

12 750 (1)

Not relevant

Precautionary TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 applies.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 applies.

(1) May be fished only by vessels flying the flag of Bulgaria or Romania.

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ANNEX II

TRANSITIONAL TECHNICAL MEASURES

1. No fishing activity for turbot shall be permitted from 15 April to 15 June in European Community waters of the Black

Sea.

2. The minimum legal mesh size for bottom-set nets used to catch turbot shall be 400 mm.

In one Member State where the minimum legal mesh size for bottom-set nets used to catch turbot was less than 400
mm before the entry into force of this Regulation, nets with a minimum mesh size of no less than 360 mm may be
used to catch turbot. However, the Member State concerned shall ensure that by the end of 2009 no more than 40 %
by number of the whole fishing vessels authorised to fish turbot with bottom-set nets still use a mesh size smaller than
400 mm.

3. The mesh size shall be measured in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 517/2008 of 10 June 2008

laying down, inter alia, detailed rules of relevance for the determination of the mesh size.

4. The minimum landing size for turbot shall be 45 cm total

length, measured in accordance with Article 18 of

Regulation (EC) No 850/98.