Council Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 of 4 November 2003 on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources and modifying Regulation (EC) No 2847/93 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 685/95 and (EC) No 2027/95

CHAPTER I

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation establishes the criteria and procedures for a system relating to the management of fishing effort in ICES areas V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X and CECAF divisions 34.1.1, 34.1.2 and 34.2.0.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ICES and CECAF zones are as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3880/91 of 17 December 1991 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the Northeast Atlantic (¹);

(b) ‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of vessels it means the sum of fishing effort exerted by each vessel of the group.

CHAPTER II

FISHING EFFORT MANAGEMENT REGIME

Title I

Provisions concerning certain fisheries

Article 3

Measures concerning the catching of demersal species and certain molluscs and crustaceans

Except for the area defined in Article 6(1), Member States shall:

(a) assess the levels of fishing effort exerted by vessels equal to or more than 15 metres in length overall, as an annual average of the period 1998 to 2002, in each of the ICES areas and CECAF divisions referred to in Article 1 for demersal fisheries, excluding demersal fisheries, those covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002 of 16 December 2002 establishing specific access requirements and associated conditions applicable to fishing for deep-sea stocks (²) and fisheries for scallops, edible crab and spider crab, as laid down in the Annex to this Regulation. For the calculation of fishing effort the fishing capacity of a vessel shall be measured as the installed power expressed in kilowatts (kW);

(b) allocate the level of fishing effort assessed conforming to subparagraph (a) in each ICES area or CECAF division, with regard to each of the fisheries mentioned in subparagraph (a).

Article 4

Fishing vessels equal to or less than 15 metres

Title II

Article 6

Conditions in the biologically sensitive area

A specific effort regime shall apply to the area enclosed by the coast of Ireland to the south of 53° 30' N and to the west of 07° 00' W and straight lines sequentially joining the following geographical coordinates:

— a point on the coast of Ireland at latitude 53° 30' N

— latitude 53° 30' N, longitude 12° 00' W

— latitude 53° 00' N, longitude 12° 00' W

— latitude 51° 00' N, longitude 11° 00' W

— latitude 49° 30' N, longitude 11° 00' W

— latitude 49° 30' N, longitude 07° 00' W

— a point on the coast of Ireland at longitude 07° 00' W.

Title III

General provisions

Article 7

Lists of vessels

Article 8

Regulation of fishing effort

Article 9

The Member States may limit fishing activities by vessels flying their flag to specific gear, seasons or parts of an ICES area or CECAF division.

Article 10

Notification

Before 30 November 2003, Member States shall notify the Commission of:

(a) the list of vessels referred to in Article 7;

(b) the assessment of the fishing effort as described in Articles 3 and 6;

(c) the fishing effort regulation measures, as referred to in Article 8.

Article 11

Decision-making

The Regulation, which will be adopted by the Council, may provide for the adoption of implementing rules, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Article 12

Adaptations

In the event of reallocations and/or deductions of quotas, the Member States shall notify the Commission of the fishing effort corresponding to such reallocations and/or deductions.

CHAPTER III

CONTROL REGIME

Article 13

Special control provisions

For the purpose of this Regulation, Title IIA of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall apply:

(a) in the area defined in Article 6(1) of this Regulation;

(b) in all areas, except the area defined in Article 6(1), with exemption of Articles 19a(3), 19b, 19c, 19d and 19e(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

Article 14

Amendments

Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 is hereby amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 shall be replaced by the following: ‘1. For the purpose of this Title “fishing areas concerned” means the ICES areas or CECAF divisions to which fishing effort limitation schemes apply pursuant to Community regulations.’ (b) paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the following: ‘2. Community fishing vessels are prohibited to carry out fishing activities in the fishing areas concerned if the vessel has not been duly authorised to that end by the Flag Member State.’

‘Article 19g Each Member State shall record the fishing efforts deployed by vessels flying its flag in each fishing area concerned on the basis of available information contained in vessels' logbooks and information collected in accordance with Article 19e(4).’

‘Article 19h Each Member State shall assess in overall terms the fishing efforts deployed by vessels flying its flag, which have a length of less than 15 metres in length overall, in each fishing area concerned and by vessels, which have a length of less than 10 metres in length overall, in the area referred to in Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 of 4 November 2003 on the management of the fishing effort relating to certain Community fishing areas and resources (^*1).’

— ‘— in the previous month for each fishing area concerned for demersal species, before the 15th of each month’

‘Article 19j Each Member State shall notify, without delay, to the other Member States, the identification details of the vessels flying its flag for which the authorisation to carry out fishing activities in one or more of the fisheries referred to in Articles 3 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 is suspended or withdrawn.’

‘1. Where fishing vessels to which Title IIA applies carry out fishing activities in the fishing areas concerned they may carry with them and use only the corresponding fishing gear or gears.

‘Article 21a Each Member State shall determine the date on which the vessels flying its flag or registered in the Community shall be deemed to have reached the maximum fishing effort level in a fishing area as laid down in the Regulation referred to in Article 11(2) or (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003. As from that date, it shall provisionally prohibit the fishing activities of the said vessels in that area. The Commission shall be notified forthwith of this measure and shall then inform the other Member States.’

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 15

Repeal

Regulations (EC) No 685/95 and (EC) No 2027/95 shall be repealed with effect from:

(a) the date of entry into force of the Regulation referred to in Article 11(2) or (3); or

(b) 1 August 2004,

whichever is the earlier.

Article 16

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

ANNEX