Council Regulation (EC) No 406/97 of 20 December 1996 laying down for 1997 certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the Regulatory Area as defined in the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North-West Atlantic Fisheries

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 406/97of 20 December 1996 laying down for 1997 certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the Regulatory Area as defined in the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North-West Atlantic Fisheries
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1), and in particular Article 8 (4) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1627/94 of 27 June 1994 laying down general provisions concerning special fishing permits (2), and in particular Article 7 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Whereas the Community has signed the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea, which contains principles and rules relating to the conservation and management of the living resources within the exclusive economic zones of the coastal States and on the high seas;
Whereas the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North-West Atlantic Fisheries, hereinafter referred to as the NAFO Convention, was approved by the Council in Regulation (EEC) No 3179/78 (3) and entered into force on 1 January 1979; whereas the Regulatory Area as defined consists of that part of the Convention Area which lies beyond the areas in which coastal States exercise fisheries jurisdiction;
Whereas the NAFO Convention establishes a suitable framework for the rational conservation and management of the fishery resources of the Regulatory Area with a view to achieving the optimum utilization thereof; whereas, to this end, the Contracting Parties undertake to carry out joint measures;
Whereas the North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organization, hereafter referred to as NAFO, held its annual meeting from 9 to 13 September 1996 and, on that occasion, adopted recommendations for conservation and management measures in the Regulatory Area for 1997; whereas it is appropriate that these recommendations be implemented by the Community;
Whereas, in the light of the available scientific advice, the catches of certain species in certain parts of the Regulatory Area should be limited; whereas, in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, it falls to the Council to establish the total allowable catches (TACs) by stock or group of stocks, the share available for the Community and the specific conditions under which catches must be made and to allocate the share available to the Community among the Member States;
Whereas, in order to ensure the conservation of fishery resources and their balanced exploitation, technical conservation measures must be defined, inter alia, for mesh sizes, the level of by-catches, authorized fish sizes and processed length equivalents;
Whereas in order to ensure sound management of the shrimp stock in NAFO area 3M, a system of fishing effort control should be maintained;
Whereas in order to ensure the conservation of the Greenland halibut stock, provisions should be made for the communication of effort plans for this fishery;
Whereas to enable controls to be carried out on catches from the Regulatory Area while supplementing the monitoring measures provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 (4), certain specific control measures are to be defined, inter alia, for the declaration of catches, the communication of information, the holding of non-authorized nets and information and assistance relating to the storage and processing of catches;
Whereas, within NAFO, the relevant TAC and quotas have been established on an annual basis and may not be exceeded and, therefore, they may not be subject to the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 847/96 of 6 May 1996 introducing additional conditions for year-to-year management of TACs and quotas (5);
Whereas, for imperative reasons of common interest, this Regulation shall apply from 1 January 1997,