Proposal for a Council Regulation excluding certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008
Date: 2009-07-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common fisheries policy, exclusion from public-sector employment, fishery management, fishing controls, fishing grounds, fishing regulations, fishing rights, maritime shipping, vessel

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 8.7.2009 
COM(2009) 349 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

excluding certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter 
III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008  

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

According  to  Article  11(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1342/2008  establishing  a  long-term  plan 
for  cod  stocks  and  the  fisheries  exploiting  those  stocks  and  repealing  Regulation  (EC)  No 
423/2004,  the  Council  may,  acting  on  a  Commission  proposal  and  on  the  basis  of  the 
information provided by Member States and the advice of STECF, exclude certain groups of 
vessels from the application of the effort regime provided that appropriate data is available on 
the cod catches and discards of the vessels concerned, that the percentage of cod catches does 
not exceed 1,5% of the total catches of the group of vessels and that the inclusion of the group 
in the effort regime would constitute an administrative burden disproportionate to its overall 
impact on cod stocks. At this stage, requests for exclusion of certain groups of vessels have 
been  made  by  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  Sweden,  Spain,  Poland  and  the  United  Kingdom. 
According  to  the  advice  from  STECF,  the  information  provided  by  Sweden,  and  by  Spain 
regarding its request for exclusion of its bottom trawl fleet targeting hake in ICES area VI a 
sufficiently  shows  that  the  cod  catches,  including  discards  of  the  groups  of  vessels  comply 
with  the  conditions  of  Article  11(2)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1342/2008  and  may  thus  be 
excluded  from  the  effort  regime.  For  all  other  requests  STECF  considered  the  information 
submitted as insufficient to establish compliance with those conditions. 

The present proposal intends to exclude the groups of vessels from the application of Chapter 
III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008.  

The  Council  is  requested  to  adopt  this  proposal  as  soon  as  possible  in  order  to  allow 
fishermen to plan their activities for this fishing season. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

excluding certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of 
Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having  regard  to  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1342/2008  establishing  a  long-term  plan  for  cod 
stocks and the fisheries exploiting those stocks and repealing Regulation (EC) No 423/20041, and in 
particular Article 11 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Chapter  III  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1342/2008  establishes  a  fishing  effort  regime  whereby 
fishing opportunities in terms of fishing effort are allocated to Member States on an annual 
basis.  According  to  Article  11(2)  of  that  Regulation  ,  the  Council  may,  acting  on  a 
Commission proposal and on the basis of the information provided by Member States and 
the advice of STECF, exclude certain groups of vessels from the application of the fishing 
effort regime provided that appropriate data is available on the cod catches and discards of 
the vessels concerned, that the percentage of cod catches does not exceed 1,5% of the total 
catches of the group of vessels and that the inclusion of the group in the effort regime would 
constitute an administrative burden disproportionate to its overall impact on cod stocks. 

Sweden  provided  information  on  the  cod  catches  by  a  group  of  156  vessels  fishing  in  the 
Skagerrak  and  Kattegat  for  Norway  lobster  with  a  selective  sorting  grid  as  defined  in 
Appendix 2 to Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 43/2009. On the basis of that information, 
as assessed by STECF, it can be established that the cod catches, including discards, of that 
group of vessels during the period that they deploy solely that selective fishing gear, does 
not exceed 1,5% of the total catches of that group of vessels during that same period. Having 
moreover regard to the Swedish control program for cod stocks in the North Sea, Skagerrak 
and  the  Kattegat  and  considering  that  the  inclusion  of  that  group  would  constitute  an 
administrative burden disproportionate to its overall impact on cod stocks, it is appropriate 
to exclude that group of vessels, for the period where they solely deploy the concerned gear, 
from  the  application  of  the  effort  regime  laid  down  in  Chapter  III  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1342/2008.  

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OJ L 348, 24.12.2008, p. 20. 

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(3) 

(4) 

Spain  provided  information  on  cod  catches  by  a  group  of  88  vessels  fishing  with  bottom 
trawls in the West of Scotland mainly for hake. On the basis of that information, as assessed 
by  STECF,  it  can  be  established  that  the  cod  catches,  including  discards,  of  that  group  of 
vessels, does not exceed 1,5% of the total catches of that group of vessels during that same 
period.  Having  moreover  regard  to  the  measures  in  place  ensuring  the  monitoring  and 
control of the fishing activities of that group of vessels and considering that the inclusion of 
that group would constitute an administrative burden disproportionate to its overall impact 
on cod stocks, it is appropriate to exclude that group of vessels, from the application of the 
effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008. 

Considering  that  Member  States  are  managing  the  effort  and  the  compliance  with  effort 
limitations on the basis of the fishing season running from 1 February 2009 until 31 January 
2010  and  having  regard  to  the  fact  that  Regulation  (EC)  No  1342/2008  was  adopted  only 
shortly before the start of this season, it is appropriate that these exemptions be applicable 
for the entire fishing season and therefore that they apply as from 1 February 2009, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 
Exclusion from the effort regime under Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 

The following groups of vessels shall be excluded from the application of the fishing effort regime 
laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008: 

a) 

b) 

the  group  of  156  vessels  flying  the  flag  of  Sweden,  indicated  in  its  request  dated  26 
February  2009  as  completed  by  letter  dated  8  April  2009,  fishing  in  the  Skagerrak  and 
Kattegat  during  the  period  in  which  these  vessel  are  fishing  solely  with  a  sorting  grid  as 
defined in Appendix 2 to Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 and targeting Norway 
lobster;  

the group of 88 vessels flying the flag of Spain, indicated in its request dated 2 December 
2008 as completed by letters dated 6 and 14 March 2009, using bottom trawls of mesh size 
equal  to  or  larger  than  100  mm  on  the  shelf  slope  off  the  West  of  Scotland  in  depths 
between 200 and 1000 metres and targeting deep-sea species and hake. 

Article 2 
Entry into force 

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 February 2009. 

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

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Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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