Article 1 Subject matter
This Regulation fixes the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2015.
Article 2 Scope
This Regulation shall apply to Union fishing vessels operating in the Baltic Sea.
Article 3 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘ICES’ means International Council for the Exploration of the Sea; (2) ‘Baltic Sea’ means ICES zones IIIb, IIIc and IIId; (3) ‘subdivision’ means an ICES subdivision of the Baltic sea as defined in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 ( 6 ) ; (4) ‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources; (5) ‘Union fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union; (6) ‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of fishing vessels it is the sum of the fishing effort of all fishing vessels in the group; (7) ‘stock’ means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area; (8) ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity of each stock that can be: (i) caught over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; or (ii) landed over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are not subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; (9) ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country; (10) ‘days absent from port’ means any continuous period of 24 hours or part thereof during which a fishing vessel is not present in a port.
Article 4 TACs and allocations
The TACs, the quotas and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in Annex I.
Article 5 Special provisions on allocations of fishing opportunities
The allocation of fishing opportunities to Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to: (a) exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; (b) deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009; (c) additional landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; (d) quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or transferred under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; (e) deductions made pursuant to Articles 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
Article 6 Conditions for landing catches and by-catches not subject to the landing obligation
Catches and by-catches of plaice shall be retained on board or landed only if they have been taken by Union fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted.
Article 7 Fishing effort limits
Fishing effort limits are set out in Annex II.
Article 8 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 43/2014
Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 is amended as follows: (1) Article 18a is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the following subparagraphs are inserted: ‘(m) herring in zones VIIa, VIIg, VIIh, VIIj and VIIk; (n) horse mackerel in Union waters of IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId and VIIIe; in Union and international waters of Vb; in international waters of XII and XIV.’ ; (b) the following paragraph is inserted: ‘7. By way of derogation from paragraph 4, the percentage of 10 % shall be increased by an additional 15 % in respect of stocks referred to in paragraph 1(c), (d), (f), (g), (j), (k), (m) and (n).’ ;
Article 10 Data transmission
When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send the Commission data relating to quantities of stocks caught or landed, they shall use the stock codes set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
Article 11 Flexibility
1. Except where otherwise specified in Annex I to this Regulation, Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall apply to stocks subject to precautionary TAC and Article 3(2) and (3) and Article 4 of that Regulation shall apply to stocks subject to analytical TAC. 2. Article 3(2) and (3) and Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply where a Member State uses the year-to-year flexibility provided for in Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
Article 12 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . It shall apply from 1 January 2015. However, Articles 8 and 9 shall apply with effect from 1 January 2014.