Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 excluding certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008
Date: 2009-09-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: France, Germany, Poland, catch quota, fishing area, fishing controls, fishing regulations, fishing rights, protected species, sea fish

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.9.2009 
COM(2009) 505 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 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. Following the exclusion of groups of vessels from Sweden and Spain as 
decided  by  the  Council  on  27  July  2009  (Regulation  (EC)  No  754/2009),  further  requests 
from France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom have been assessed by the STECF. 

Based on the advice from STECF, the information provided by Germany and Poland directed 
towards  saithe,  by  Spain  directed  towards  hake  and  by  France  directed  towards  deep  sea 
species  and  anglerfish  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 as long as those fisheries proceed 
predominantly  below  the  cod  distribution  depth  ranging  up  to  300  meters.  For  all  other 
requests  the  information  submitted  was  considered  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 the remainder of this fishing season. 

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Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

amending Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 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(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

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. 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  754/20092  excluded  certain  groups  of  vessels  from  the 
fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008.  

Following  the  assessment  by  STECF  of  the  information  underlying  Regulation  (EC) 
No  754/2009,  Germany,  France  and  Poland  provided  information  on  cod  catches  by 
certain other groups of vessels flying their flag.  

Germany  provided  information  on  the  cod  catches  by  a  group  of  vessels  targeting 
saithe in the wider North Sea and the area to the west of Scotland with bottom trawls. 
On the basis of that information in addition to the information on that fishery provided 
by  other  Member  States,  as  assessed  by  STECF,  it  can  be  established  that  the  cod 
catches, including discards, of vessels involved in that activity during the period that 
they  deploy  solely  that  fishing  gear,  do  not  exceed  1,5%  of  the  total  catches  of  the 
group  of  vessels  involved  in  that  activity  during  that  same  period,  as  long  as  those 
fisheries proceed below the cod distribution depth ranging up to 300 meters. Having 
moreover  regard  to  the  German  program  to  control  this  fishery  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  the  group  of  vessels 
targeting saithe in the wider North Sea fishing with bottom trawls of a mesh size equal 

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2 

OJ L 348, 24.12.2008, p. 20. 
OJ L 214, 19.8.2009, p. 16.  

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to or larger than 100 mm at a depth of 300 meters or more from the application of the 
effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008.  

France provided information on the cod catches by one group of vessels targeting deep 
sea species in the area to the west of Scotland with bottom trawls and by another group 
of  vessels  targeting  anglerfish  with  gillnets  in  the  same  area.  On  the  basis  of  that 
information,  as  assessed  by  STECF,  it  can  be  established  that  the  cod  catches, 
including  discards,  of  vessels  involved  in  those  activities  during  the  period  that  they 
deploy solely that fishing gear, do not exceed 1,5% of the total catches of the group of 
vessels  involved  in  that  activity  during  that  same  period,  as  long  as  those  fisheries 
proceed  predominantly  below  the  cod  distribution  depth  ranging  up  to  300  meters. 
Having moreover regard to the French program to control this fishery 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  the 
group of vessels targeting deep-sea species in the area to the west of Scotland fishing 
with bottom trawls of a mesh size equal to or larger than 100 mm at a depth of 300 
meters or more, and the group of vessels targeting anglerfish in the area to the west of 
Scotland fishing with gillnets at a depth of 300 meters or more, from the application of 
the effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008. 

Spain provided information on the cod catches by one group of vessels targeting hake 
in the area to the west of Scotland with longlines. On the basis of that information, as 
assessed by STECF, it can be established that the cod catches, including discards, of 
vessels  involved  in  those  activities  during  the  period  that  they  deploy  solely  that 
fishing gear, do not exceed 1,5% of the total catches of the group of vessels involved 
in  that  activity  during  that  same  period,  as  long  as  those  fisheries  proceed 
predominantly  below  the  cod  distribution  depth  ranging  up  to  300  meters.  Having 
moreover  regard  to  the  Spanish  program  to  control  this  fishery  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  the  group  of  vessels 
targeting hake in the area to the west of Scotland fishing with longlines at a depth of 
300 meters or more from the application of the effort regime laid down in Chapter III 
of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 

Poland provided information on the cod catches by a group of vessels targeting saithe 
in the North Sea with bottom trawls. On the basis of that information in addition to the 
information on that fishery provided by other Member States, as assessed by STECF, 
it  can  be  established  that  the  cod  catches,  including  discards,  of  vessels  involved  in 
that activity during the period that they deploy solely that fishing gear, do not exceed 
1,5% of the total catches of the group of vessels involved in that activity during that 
same period, as long as that fishery proceed predominantly below the cod distribution 
depth  ranging  up  to  300  m.  Having  moreover  regard  to  the  program  to  control  this 
fishery put in place by Poland 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  the  group  of  vessels  targeting  saithe  in  the  North 
Sea  fishing  with  bottom  trawls  of  a  mesh  size  equal  to  or  larger  than  100  mm  at  a 
depth  of  300  meters  or  more  from  the  application  of  the  effort  regime  laid  down  in 
Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008.  

Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly.  

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 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

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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  the 
exemptions provided for by this Regulation be applicable for the entire fishing season 
and therefore that they apply as from 1 February 2009.  

(10) 

In order to ensure certainty for the fishermen concerned and to allow them to plan their 
activities  for  this  fishing  season  as  soon  as  possible,  it  is  imperative  to  grant  an 
exception to the six-week period referred to in Title I, Article 3, of the Protocol on the 
role  of  national  Parliaments  in  the  European  Union  annexed  to  the  Treaty  on  the 
European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities,  

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 
Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 754/2009  

In Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 the following points (c) to (g) are added: 

"(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

the group of vessels flying the flag of Germany, participating in the high sea fishery 
indicated in the request from Germany dated 25 March 2009, as completed by letter 
dated 27 June 2009, targeting saithe in the North Sea and in the area to the west of 
Scotland fishing with bottom trawls of a mesh size equal to or larger than 100 mm at 
a depth of 300 meters or more;  

the group of vessels flying the flag of France, participating in the fishery indicated in 
the request from France dated 18 June 2009, targeting deep-sea species in the area to 
the west of Scotland fishing with bottom trawls of a mesh size equal to or larger than 
100 mm at a depth of 300 meters or more;  

the group of vessels flying the flag of France, participating in the fishery indicated in 
the  request  from  France  dated  18  June  2009,  targeting  anglerfish  in  the  area  to  the 
west of Scotland fishing with gillnets at a depth of 300 meters or more; 

the group of vessels flying the flag of Spain, participating in the fishery indicated in 
the request from Spain dated 6 April 2009, as completed by correspondence dated 13 
April  and  14  September  2009,  targeting  hake  in  the  area  to  the  west  of  Scotland 
fishing with longlines at a depth of 300 meters or more; 

the group of vessels flying the flag of Poland, participating in the fishery indicated in 
the  request  from  Poland  dated  23  March  2009,  as  completed  by  correspondence 
dated  27  April  and  16  June  2009,  targeting  saithe  in  the  North  Sea  fishing  with 
bottom trawls of a mesh size equal to or larger than 100 mm at a depth of 300 meters 
or more."  

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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