Council Regulation (EC) No 40/2008 of 16 January 2008 fixing for 2008 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required

Application of Title V of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 where restrictions exist.

For Member States whose quotas are less than 5 % of the Community share of the TACs of both plaice and sole, the number of days at sea shall be 205.

n.r. means ‘non relevant’

EXCHANGES OF FISHING EFFORT ALLOCATIONS

15. Transfer of days between fishing vessels flying the flag of a member state

• 15.1.A Member State may permit any fishing vessel flying its flag to transfer days present within a geographical area referred to in point 2.1 for which it has been authorised to another vessel flying its flag provided that the product of the days received by a vessel and its engine power in kilowatts (kilowatt days) is equal to or less than the product of the days transferred by the donor vessel and the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. The engine power in kilowatts of the vessels shall be that recorded for each vessel in the Community fishing fleet register.

- 15.2.The total number of days present within an area under point 15.1. multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of the donor vessel shall not be higher than the donor vessel's average annual days track record excluding transfers from other vessels in that area as verified by the Community logbook in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. When a donor vessel uses the area definition of West of Scotland as defined in point 2.2 its track record calculation will be based on this area definition.

- For the purposes of this point, the recipient vessel is deemed to use its own allocated days before any days transferred to it. Transferred days used by the recipient vessel are counted towards the track record of the donor vessel.

• 15.3.The transfer of days as described in point 15.1 shall only be permitted between vessels operating within the same transfer group as defined in point 4.2 and during the same management period. A Member State may allow a transfer of days when a licensed donor vessel has ceased its activity.

- 15.4.Transfer of days is only permitted for vessels benefiting from an allocation of fishing days without the special conditions laid down in point 8.3.

• By way of derogation from this point, vessels benefiting from the allocation of fishing days under the special condition referred to in point 8.3(h), when this condition is not combined with any other special condition as laid down in point 8.3, may transfer days.

• 15.5.On request from the Commission, Member States shall provide information on the transfers that have taken place. With the purpose of making this information available to the Commission, a detailed format of spreadsheet may be adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Member States may permit transfer of days present within an area for the same management period and within the same area between any fishing vessels flying their flags provided the same provisions as laid down in points 5.2, 5.5, 7 and 15 apply. Where Member States decide to authorise such a transfer, they shall notify the Commission before such transfers take place the details of the transfer, including the number of days transferred, the fishing effort and, where applicable, the quotas relating thereto.

USE OF FISHING GEAR

Before the first day of each management period the master of a vessel or his representative shall notify to the authorities of the flag Member State which gear or gears he intends to use during the forthcoming management period. Until such notification is provided the vessel shall not be entitled to fish within the geographical areas defined in point 2.1 with any of the fishing gear referred to in point 4.1.

• 18.1.A vessel may use gears belonging to more than one of the groupings of fishing gears defined under point 4.1 during one management period.

• 18.2.Whenever the master of a vessel or his representative notifies the use of more than one fishing gear, the vessel may at any moment use one of the gears notified provided that the total number of days spent fishing with whichever gear since the beginning of the year is:

- (a) no more than total number of days available during the year which represents the arithmetic mean of the days corresponding to each gear in accordance with Table I, rounded down to the nearest whole day, and

• (b) no more than the number of days that would be allocated in accordance with Table I if that gear was used in isolation.

- 18.3.If one of the gears notified has no limitation in number of days, then the total number of days available during the year for this particular gear shall remain unlimited.

• 18.4.Whenever a Member State chooses to divide the days into management periods in accordance with point 9, the conditions of points 18.2, 18.3 and 18.4 shall apply mutatis mutandis for each management period.

• 18.5.The option to use more than one gear shall only be available if the following additional monitoring arrangements are met:

- (a) during a given trip the fishing vessel may carry on board or use only one of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 4.1, except as provided for in point 20.2;

- (b) before any trip the master of a vessel or his representative shall give prior notice to the competent authorities of the type of fishing gear that is to be carried on board or used unless the type of fishing gear has not changed from the one notified for the previous trip.

• 18.6.Inspection and surveillance at sea and in port by the competent authorities shall be undertaken for verification of compliance with the above two requirements. Any vessel found not to be complying with these requirements shall with immediate effect no longer be permitted to use more than one grouping of fishing gears.

19. Combined use of regulated and unregulated fishing gear

A vessel wishing to combine the use of one or more of the fishing gears referred to in point 4.1 (regulated gears) with any other fishing gears not referred to in point 4.1 (unregulated gears) shall not be restricted in their use of the unregulated gear. Such vessels must pre-notify when the regulated gear is to be used. When no such notification has been given, none of the fishing gear referred to in point 4.1 may be carried on board. Such vessels must be authorised and equipped to undertake the alternative fishing activity with unregulated gears.

20. Prohibition of carrying on board more than one regulated fishing gear

- 20.1.A vessel which is present within any of the geographical areas defined in point 2 and carrying on board a fishing gear belonging to one of the groupings of fishing gears referred to in point 4.1 may not simultaneously carry on board any gear belonging to one of the other groupings of fishing gears referred to in point 4.1.

• 20.2.By way of derogation from point 20.1 a vessel may carry on board and use during a trip in a geographical area referred to in point 2.1 fishing gears belonging to different groupings of fishing gears. In that case the number of days at sea spent by the vessel during that trip shall be counted for as fishing with the gear and special condition for which the lowest number of days apply in accordance with Table I.

NON-FISHING RELATED ACTIVITIES AND TRANSIT

21. Non-fishing related activities

In any given management period a vessel may undertake non-fishing related activities, without that time being counted against its days allocated under point 8, provided that the vessel first notifies its flag Member State of its intention to do so, the nature of its activity and that it surrenders its fishing licence for this time. Such vessels shall not carry any fishing gear or fish on board during that time.

A vessel is allowed to transit across the area provided that it has no fishing permit to operate in the area or that it has first notified its authorities of its intention to do so. While that vessel is within the area any fishing gears carried on board must be lashed and stowed in accordance with conditions laid down in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

MONITORING, INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE

By way of derogation from Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 423/2004, vessels equipped with vessel monitoring systems in accordance with Article 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 shall be excluded from the hailing requirements set out in Article 19(c) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

VESSEL MONITORING SYSTEMS OBLIGATIONS

Member States shall ensure that the following data received pursuant to Articles 8, 10(1) and 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 are recorded in a computer-readable form:

• (a) entry into, and exit from port;

• (b) each entry into, and exit from maritime areas where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply.

25. Cross-checks

Member States shall verify the submission of logbooks and relevant information recorded in the logbook by using VMS data. Such cross-checks shall be recorded and made available to the Commission on request.

REPORTING OBLIGATIONS

26. Collection of relevant data

Member States, on the basis of information used for the management of fishing days absent from port and present within the areas as set out in this Annex, shall collect for each annual quarter the information about total fishing effort deployed in the areas defined in point 2.1 for towed gears, static gears and demersal longlines and effort deployed by vessels using different types of gear in the areas concerned by this Annex.

• 27.1.On request of the Commission, Members States shall make available to the Commission a spreadsheet with the data referred to in point 26 in the format specified in Tables II and III by sending it to the appropriate electronic mailbox address, which shall be communicated to the Member States by the Commission.

- 27.2.A new format of spreadsheet for making the data referred to in point 26 available to the Commission may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Table II

Reporting format

Country	CFR	External marking	Length of management period	Area fished	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Transfers of days
Country	CFR	External marking	Length of management period	Area fished	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	Transfers of days
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(10)

Table III

Data format

Name of field	Maximum number of characters/digits	Alignment [^E0231] L(eft)/R(ight)	Definition and Comments
(1) Country	3	n/r	Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) in which vessel is registered for fishing under Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. In the case of the donor Vessel, it is always the reporting country
(2) CFR	12	n/r	Community Fleet Register number Unique identification number of a fishing vessel. Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) followed by an identifying series (9 characters). Where a series has fewer than 9 characters additional zeros must be inserted on the left hand side.
(3) External marking	14	L	Under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87
(4) Length of management period	2	L	Length of the management period measured in months.
(5) Area fished	1	L	Indicate if vessel has been fishing in area a, b, c or d of point 2.1 of Annex IIA.
(6) gear(s) notified	5	L	Indication of gear grouping notified in accordance with point 4.1 to Annex IIA (e.g a.i, a.ii. a.iii, a.iv, a.v, b.i, b.ii, b.iii, b.iv, c.i, c.ii, c.iii, d or e).
(7) Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	2	L	Indication of which, if any, of the special condition a-l referred to in point 8.3 of Annex IIA apply.
(8) Days eligible using notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days for which the vessel is eligible under Annex IIA for the choice of gears and length of management period notified
(9) Days spent with notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days the vessel actually spent present within the area and using the gear notified during the notified management period according to Annex IIA
(10) Transfers of days	4	L	For days transferred indicate ‘– number of days transferred’ and for days received indicate ‘+ number of days transferred’

[^E0231]: (^*1)

relevant information for transmission of data by fixed-length formatting.

Appendix 1 to Annex IIA

A copy of the special permits referred to in point 13.1 of this Annex shall be kept on board the fishing vessel.

• 1.When holding the special fishing permit the vessel shall only keep on board and use a towed net with an escape window as specified in point 2 of this Appendix. The gear shall be approved by the national inspectors before commencing fishing.

• 2.Escape window

• 2.1.The window shall be inserted in the untapered section with a minimum of 80 open meshes in the circumference. The window shall be inserted into the top panel. There shall be no more than two open diamond meshes between the posterior row of meshes in the side of the window and the adjacent selvedge. The window shall terminate no more than six metres from cod-line. The joining rate shall be two diamond meshes to one square mesh when codend mesh size is equal or more than 120 mm, five diamond meshes to two square meshes when codend mesh size is equal or more than 100 mm and less than 120 mm and three diamond meshes to one square mesh when codend mesh size is equal or more than 90 mm and less than 100 mm.

• 2.2.The window shall be at least three meters in length. The meshes shall have a minimum opening of 120 mm. The meshes shall be square meshes, i.e. all four sides of the window netting will be cut bars. The netting shall be mounted such that the bars run parallel and perpendicular to the length of the cod-end.

- 2.3.The netting f square-meshed panel shall be knotless single twine. The window shall be inserted in such a way that the meshes remain fully open at all times when fishing. The window shall not be obstructed in any way by either internal or external attachments.

Appendix 2 to Annex IIA

A copy of the special permits referred to in point 13.1. of this Annex shall be kept on board the fishing vessel.

• 1.When holding the special fishing permit the vessel shall only keep on board and use a towed net with an escape window as specified in point 2 of this Appendix. The gear shall be approved by the national inspectors before commencing fishing.

• 2.Escape window

• 2.1.The window shall be inserted in the untapered section with a minimum of 80 open meshes in the circumference. The window shall be inserted into the top panel. There shall be no more than two open diamond meshes between the posterior row of meshes in the side of the window and the adjacent selvedge. The window shall terminate no more than 6 metres from cod-line. The joining rate shall be five diamond meshes to two square meshes.

• 2.2.The window shall be at least three meters in length. The meshes shall have a minimum opening of 140 mm. The meshes shall be square meshes i.e. all four sides of the window netting will be cut bars. The netting shall be mounted such that the bars run parallel and perpendicular to the length of the codend.

- 2.3.The netting of square-meshed panel shall be knotless single twine. The window shall be inserted in such a way that the meshes remain fully open at all times when fishing. The window shall not be obstructed in any way by either internal or external attachments.

Appendix 3 to Annex IIA

- 1.A copy of the special permits referred to in point 13.1 of this Annex shall be kept on board the fishing vessel.

• 2.When holding the special fishing permit the vessel shall only keep on board and use a towed net with an escape window as specified in point 3 of this Appendix inserted in a codend with a mesh size equal or larger than 95 mm and with a minimum of 80 open meshes and a maximum of 100 meshes in the circumference. The gear shall be approved by the national inspectors before commencing fishing.

- 3.Escape window

• 3.1.The window shall be inserted in the top panel. There shall be no more than two open diamond meshes between the posterior row of meshes in the side of the window and the adjacent selvedge. The window shall terminate no more than 4 metres from cod-line. The joining rate shall be three diamond meshes to one square mesh.

- 3.2.The window shall be at least five meters in length. The meshes shall have a minimum opening of 120 mm. The meshes shall be square meshes i.e. all four sides of the window netting will be cut bars. The netting shall be mounted such that the bars run parallel and perpendicular to the length of the codend.

• 3.3.The netting of square-meshed panel shall be knotless single twine. The window shall be inserted in such a way that the meshes remain fully open at all times when fishing. The window shall not be obstructed in any way by either internal or external attachments.

ANNEX IIB

FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN SOUTHERN HAKE AND NORWAY LOBSTER STOCKS IN ICES ZONES VIIIc AND IXa EXCLUDING THE GULF OF CADIZ

1. Scope

The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to Community vessels of length overall equal to or greater than 10 metres, carrying on board towed and static gears defined in point 3 and present in zones VIIIc and IXa excluding the Gulf of Cadiz. For the purposes of this Annex, a reference to the 2008 management period means the period from 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2009.

For the purpose of this Annex, a day present within an area shall be any continuous period of 24 hours (or part thereof) during which a vessel is present within the geographical area defined in point 1 and absent from port. The time from which the continuous period is measured is at the discretion of the Member State whose flag is flown by the vessel concerned.

3. Fishing gear

For the purpose of this Annex, the following grouping of fishing gears shall apply:

- — Trawls, Danish seines and similar gears of mesh size equal to or larger than 32 mm and gill-nets of mesh size equal to or larger than 60 mm and bottom long-lines.

IMPLEMENTATION OF FISHING EFFORT LIMITATIONS

4. Vessels concerned by fishing effort limitations

- 4.1.Vessels using gears belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3 and fishing in areas defined in point 1 shall hold a special fishing permit issued in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1627/94.

• 4.2.A Member State shall not permit fishing with any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 in the area by any of its vessels which have no record of such fishing activity in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007 in the area, excluding the record of fishing activities as a result of transfer of days between fishing vessels, unless it ensures that equivalent capacity, measured in kilowatts, is prevented from fishing in the regulated area.

• 4.3.A vessel flying the flag of a Member State having no quotas in the area defined in point 1 shall not be permitted to fish in that area with a gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3, unless the vessel is allocated a quota after a transfer as permitted according to the Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002  and is allocated days at sea according to point 12 or 13 of this Annex.

Each Member State shall ensure that, when carrying on board any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3, fishing vessels flying its flag and registered in the Community shall be present within the area for no more than the number of days specified in point 7.

A Member State shall not count against the days allocated to any of its vessels under this Annex either any days when the vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it was assisting another vessel in need of emergency aid or any days when a vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. The Member State shall provide justification to the Commission within one month of any decisions taken on this basis with associated evidence of the emergency from the competent authorities.

NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT WITHIN THE AREA ALLOCATED TO FISHING VESSELS

• 7.1.During the 2008 management period, the maximum number of days at sea for which a Member State may authorize a vessel flying its flag to be present within the area having carried on board any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3 is shown in Table I.

• 7.2.For the purposes of fixing the maximum number of days at sea a fishing vessel may be authorized by its flag Member State to be present within the area, the following special conditions shall apply during the 2008 management period in accordance with Table I:

• (a) The total landings of hake in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 made by the vessel, or by the vessel or vessels using similar gears and qualifying for this special condition, mutatis mutandis, that it has replaced in accordance with Community law, shall represent less than 5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight consigned in the Community logbook, and;

- (b) The total landings of Norway lobster in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 made by the vessel, or by the vessel or vessels using similar gears and qualifying for this special condition, mutatis mutandis, that it has replaced in accordance with Community law, shall represent less than 2,5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight consigned in the Community logbook.

• 7.3.During the 2008 management period, a Member State may manage its fishing effort allocations according to a kilowatt days system. By that system it may authorise any vessel concerned for any gear of the grouping of fishing gears and special conditions laid down in Table I to be present within the area for a maximum number of days which is different from that set out in that Table, provided that the overall amount of kilowatt days corresponding to the grouping and special condition is respected.

• This overall amount of kilowatt days shall be the sum of all individual fishing efforts allocated to the vessels flying the flag of that Member State and qualified for the grouping of fishing gears referred to in point 3 and special condition. Such individual fishing efforts shall be calculated in kilowatt days by multiplying the engine power of each vessel by the number of days at sea it would benefit from, according to table I, if the provisions of this point were not applied.

• 7.4.A Member State wishing to benefit from the provisions laid down in point 7.3 shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for the grouping of fishing gears and special condition as laid down in Table I the details of the calculation based on

- — list of vessels authorized to fish by indicating their Community Fleet Register number (CFR) and their engine power;

• — track records of 2001, 2002 and 2003 for such vessels reflecting the catch composition defined in special conditions 7.2(a) or (b), if these vessels are qualified for such special conditions;

• — the number of days at sea for which each vessel would had initially been authorized to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea which each vessel would benefit from in application of point 7.3.

• On the basis of that description, the Commission may authorize that Member State to benefit from the provisions defined in point 7.3.

• 8.1.A Member State may divide the days present within the area given in Table I into management periods of durations of one or more calendar months.

• 8.2.The number of days for which a vessel may be present within the area during a management period shall be fixed at the discretion of the Member State concerned.

• 8.3.In any given management period a vessel may undertake non-fishing related activities, without that time being counted against its days allocated under point 7, provided that the vessel first notifies its flag Member State of its intention to do so, the nature of its activity and that it surrenders its fishing licence for this time. Such vessels shall not carry any fishing gear or fish on board during that time.

• 9.1.An additional number of days at sea on which a vessel may be authorized by its flag Member State to be present within the geographical area when carrying on board any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gears referred to in point 3 may be allocated to Member States by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessations of fishing activities that have taken place since 1 January 2004 either in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 or resulting from other circumstances duly motivated by Member States. Any vessels that can be shown to have been definitively withdrawn from the area may also be considered. The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using the gears in question shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using those gears during 2003.

- The additional number of days at sea shall be then calculated by multiplying the ratio so obtained by the number of days that would have been allocated according to Table I. Any part of a day resulting from this calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day.

• This point shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 4.1 or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.

• 9.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 9.1 shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for the grouping of fishing gears and special condition as laid down in Table I the details of the calculation based on

• — lists of withdrawn vessels with their Community Fleet Register number (CFR) and their engine power;

• — the fishing activity deployed by such vessels in 2003 calculated in days at sea according to the grouping of fishing gears and if necessary special condition.

• 9.3.On the basis of such a request the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.1 for that Member State in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

- 9.4.During the 2008 management period, a Member State may re-allocate those additional numbers of days at sea to all the vessels remaining in fleet and qualified for the gears belonging to the grouping of fishing gears and special condition or to part of them by applying, mutatis mutandis, the provisions laid down in points 7.3 and 7.4.

• 9.5.Any additional number of days resulting from a permanent cessation of activity previously allocated by the Commission on the basis of previous definitions of groupings of fishing gears shall be reassessed on the basis of the grouping of fishing gears laid down in point 3. Any additional days so obtained shall remain allocated in 2008.

• 10.1.Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying onboard any gears belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be allocated between 1 February 2008 and 31 January 2009 to Member States by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of observer coverage in partnership between scientists and the fishing industry. Such a programme shall focus in particular on levels of discarding and on catch composition and go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000, Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 and Regulation (EC) No 1581/2004 for the minimum and extended programme levels.

- Observers shall be independent from the owner of the vessel and shall not be a member of the fishing vessel crew.

- 10.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 10.1 shall submit a description of their enhanced observer coverage programme to the Commission.

• 10.3.On the basis of this description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.1 for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of observers in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

- 10.4.If such a programme submitted by a Member Stated has been approved by the Commission in the past and the Member State wishes to continue its application without changes, the Member State shall inform the Commission of the continuation of its enhanced observer coverage programme four weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies.

11. Special conditions for the allocation of days

• 11.1.If a vessel has received an unlimited number of days resulting from compliance with the special conditions listed in points 7.2(a) and 7.2(b), the vessel's landings in 2008 shall not exceed 5 tonnes live weight of hake and 2,5 tonnes live weight of Norway lobster.

• 11.2.The vessel shall not tranship any fish at sea to another vessel.

• 11.3.When either of these conditions is not met by a vessel, that vessel shall with immediate effect no longer be entitled to the allocation of days corresponding to the given special conditions.

Table I

Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by fishing gear per year

| Gear point 3 | Special conditions point 7 | Denomination Only the gear groupings as defined in point 3 and the special conditions as defined in point 7 are used. | Maximum number of days |

| --- | --- | --- | --- | | 3 | | Bottom trawls of mesh size ≥ 32 mm, gill-nets of mesh size ≥ 60 mm and bottom long-lines | 194 | | 3 | 7.2(a) and 7.2(b) | Bottom trawls of mesh size ≥ 32 mm, gill-nets of mesh size ≥ 60 mm and bottom long-lines | Unlimited |

EXCHANGES OF FISHING EFFORT ALLOCATIONS

12. Transfer of days between vessels flying the flag of a member state

- 12.1.A Member State may permit any fishing vessel flying its flag to transfer days present within the area for which it has been authorised to another vessel flying its flag within the area provided that the product of the days received by a vessel multiplied by its engine in kilowatts (kilowatt days) is equal to or less than the product of the days transferred by the donor vessel and the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. The engine power in kilowatts of the vessels shall be that recorded for each vessel in the Community fishing fleet register.

• 12.2.The total number of days present within the area transferred under point 12.1 multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of the donor vessel shall not be higher than the donor vessel's average annual days track record in the area as verified by the Community logbook in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel.

- 12.3.The transfer of days as described in point 12.1 shall be permitted only between vessels operating within the any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear and during the same management period.

• 12.4.Transfer of days is only permitted for vessels benefiting from an allocation of fishing days without special condition, as laid down in point 7.2.

- 12.5.On request from the Commission, Member States shall provide information on the transfers that have taken place. Formats of spreadsheet for the collection and transmission of information referred to in the present point may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

13. Transfer of days between fishing vessels flying the flag of different member states

Member States may permit transfer of days present within the area for the same management period and within the area between any fishing vessels flying their flags provided  the same provisions as laid down in points 4.2, 4.3, 6 and 12 apply. Where Member States decide to authorize such a transfer, they shall notify the Commission, before such transfers take place, the details of the transfer, including the number of days, the fishing effort and, where applicable, the fishing quotas relating thereto.

USE OF FISHING GEAR

14. Notification of fishing gear

Before the first day of each management period the master of a vessel or his representative shall notify to the authorities of the flag Member State which gear or gears he intends to use during the forthcoming management period. Until such notification is provided the vessel shall not be entitled to fish within the area defined in point 1 with any gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3.

15. Combined used of regulated and unregulated fishing gear

A vessel wishing to combine the use of one or more of the fishing gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3 (regulated gears) with any other grouping of fishing gear not referred to in point 3 (unregulated gears) will not be restricted in their use of the unregulated gear. Such vessels must pre-notify when the regulated gear is to be used. When no such notification has been given, none of the fishing gear belonging to the grouping of fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be carried on board. Such vessels must be authorised and equipped to undertake the alternative fishing activity with the unregulated gears.

TRANSIT

A vessel is allowed to transit across the area provided that it has no fishing permit to operate in the area or it has first notified its authorities of its intention to do so. While that vessel is within the area any fishing gears carried on board must be lashed and stowed in accordance with conditions laid down in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

MONITORING, INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE

17. Fishing effort messages

Articles 19b, 19c, 19d, 19e and 19k of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall apply to vessels carrying on board gears belonging to the grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 of this Annex and operating in the area defined in point 1 of this Annex. Vessels equipped with vessel monitoring systems in accordance with Article 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 shall be excluded from these hailing requirements set out in Article 19(c) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

Member States shall ensure that the following data received pursuant to Articles 8, 10(1) and 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 are recorded in a computer-readable form:

• (a) entry into, and exit from port;

• (b) each entry into, and exit from maritime areas where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply.

19. Cross-checks

Member States shall verify the submission of logbooks and relevant information recorded in the logbook by using VMS data. Such cross-checks shall be recorded and made available to the Commission on request.

REPORTING OBLIGATIONS

20. Collection of relevant data

Member States, on the basis of information used for the management of fishing days present within the area as set out in this Annex, shall collect for each annual quarter the information about total fishing effort deployed within the area for towed gears and static gears and effort deployed by vessels using different types of gear in the area concerned by this Annex.

• 21.1.On request of the Commission, Members States shall make available to the Commission a spreadsheet with the data referred to in point 20 in the format specified in Tables II and III by sending it to the appropriate electronic mailbox address, which shall be communicated to the Member States by the Commission.

- 21.2.A new format of spreadsheet for making the data referred to in point 20 available to the Commission may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Table II

Reporting format

| Country | CFR | External marking | Length of management period | Area fished | Special condition applying to notified gear(s) | Special condition applying to notified gear(s) | Special condition applying to notified gear(s) | Special condition applying to notified gear(s) | Days eligible using notified gear(s) | Days eligible using notified gear(s) | Days eligible using notified gear(s) | Days eligible using notified gear(s) | Days spent with notified gear(s) | Days spent with notified gear(s) | Days spent with notified gear(s) | Days spent with notified gear(s) | Transfer of days |

| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Country | CFR | External marking | Length of management period | Area fished | N°1 | N°2 | N°3 | … | N°1 | N°2 | N°3 | … | N°1 | N°2 | N°3 | … | Transfer of days | | (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) | (6) | (6) | (6) | (7) | (7) | (7) | (7) | (8) | (8) | (8) | (8) | (9) |

Table III

Data format

Name of field	Maximum number of characters/digits	Alignment [^E0232] L(eft)/R(ight)	Definition and Comments
(1) Country	3	n/r	Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) in which vessel is registered for fishing under Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. In the case of the donor Vessel, it is always the reporting country
(2) CFR	12	n/r	Community Fleet Register number Unique identification number of a fishing vessel. Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) followed by an identifying series (9 characters). Where a series has fewer than 9 characters additional zeros must be inserted on the left hand side.
(3) External marking	14	L	Under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87
(4) Length of management period	2	L	Length of the management period measured in months.
(5) Area fished	1	L	Non relevant information in the case of Annex IIB.
(6) Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	2	L	Indication of which, if any, of the special condition a-b referred to in point 7.2 of Annex IIB that apply.
(7) Days eligible using notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days for which the vessel is eligible under Annex IIB for the choice of gears and length of management period notified
(8) Days spent with notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days the vessel actually spent present within the area and using a gear corresponding to gear notified during the notified management period according to Annex IIB.
(9) Transfers of days	4	L	For days transferred indicate ‘– number of days transferred’ and for days received indicate ‘+ number of days transferred’

relevant information for transmission of data by fixed-length formatting.

ANNEX IIC

FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECOVERY OF WESTERN CHANNEL SOLE STOCKS ICES ZONE VIIe

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Scope

• 1.1.The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to Community vessels of length overall equal to or greater than 10 metres carrying on board any of the gears defined in point 3, and present in zone VIIe. For the purposes of this Annex, a reference to the 2008 management period means the period from 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2009.

• 1.2.Vessels fishing with static nets with mesh size equal to or larger than 120 mm and with track records of less than 300 kg live weight of sole according to the EC logbook in 2004 shall be exempt from the provisions of this Annex on the conditions that:

• (a) such vessels catch less than 300 kg live weight of sole during the 2008 management period, and

- (b) such vessels shall not tranship any fish at sea to another vessel, and

- (c) each Member State concerned makes a report to the Commission by 31 July 2008 and 31 January 2009 on these vessels' track records for sole in 2004 and catches of sole in 2008.

When either of these conditions is not met, the concerned vessels shall with immediate effect no longer be exempted from the provisions of this Annex.

For the purpose of this Annex, a day present within an area shall be any continuous period of 24 hours (or part thereof) during which a vessel is present within zone VIIe and absent from port. The time from which the continuous period is measured is at the discretion of the Member State whose flag is flown by the vessel concerned.

For the purposes of this Annex, the following groupings of fishing gears shall apply:

- (a) Beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm;

• (b) Static nets including gill-nets, trammel-nets and tangle-nets with mesh size less than 220 mm.

IMPLEMENTATION OF FISHING EFFORT LIMITATIONS

- 4.1.Vessels using gear types identified in point 3 and fishing in areas defined in point 1 shall hold a special fishing permit issued in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1627/94.

- 4.2.A Member State shall not permit fishing with a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 in the area by any of its vessels which have no record of such fishing activity in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007 in that area unless it ensures that equivalent capacity, measured in kilowatts, is prevented from fishing in the regulated area.

• 4.3.However, a vessel with a track record of using a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 may be authorised to use a different fishing gear, provided that the number of days allocated to this latter gear is greater than or equal to the number of days allocated to the first gear.

• 4.4.A vessel flying the flag of a Member State having no quotas in the area defined in point 1 shall not be permitted to fish in that area with a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3, unless the vessel is allocated a quota after a transfer as permitted according to the Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002  and is allocated days at sea according to points 11 or 12 of this Annex.

Each Member State shall ensure that, when carrying on board any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3, fishing vessels flying its flag and registered in the Community shall be present within the area for no more than the number of days set out in point 7.

A Member State shall not count against the days allocated to any of its vessels under this Annex either any days when the vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it was assisting another vessel in need of emergency aid or any days when a vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. The Member State shall provide justification to the Commission within one month of any decisions taken on this basis with associated evidence of the emergency from the competent authorities.

NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT WITHIN THE AREA ALLOCATED TO FISHING VESSELS

- 7.1.During the 2008 management period, the maximum number of days at sea for which a Member State may authorize a vessel flying its flag to be present within the area having carried on board and used any one of the fishing gears referred to in point 3 is shown in Table I.

• 7.2.During the 2008 management period, the number of days at sea for which a vessel is present within the total area covered by this Annex and Annex IIA shall not exceed the number shown in Table I of this Annex. However the number of days in which the vessel is present in the areas covered in Annex IIA shall comply with the maximum number fixed in accordance with Annex IIA.

• 7.3.During the 2008 management period, a Member State may manage its fishing effort allocation according to a kilowatt days system. By that system it may authorise any vessel concerned to be present within the area for a maximum number of days which is different from that set out in Table I for any one of the groupings of fishing gears laid down in that Table, provided that the overall amount of kilowatt days corresponding to such a grouping is respected.

• For a specific grouping of fishing gears, the overall amount of kilowatt days shall be the sum of all individual fishing efforts allocated to the vessels flying the flag of the Member State concerned and qualified for that specific grouping. Such individual fishing efforts shall be calculated in kilowatt days by multiplying the engine power of each vessel by the number of days at sea it would benefit from, according to Table I, if the provisions of this point were not applied.

- 7.4.A Member State wishing to benefit from the provisions laid down in point 7.3 shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for each grouping of fishing gears the details of the calculation based on

• — list of vessels authorized to fish by indicating their Community Fleet Register number (CFR) and their engine power;

• — the number of days at sea for which each vessel would had initially been authorized to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea which each vessel would benefit from in application of point 7.3.

• On the basis of that description, the Commission may authorize that Member State to benefit from the provisions defined in point 7.3.

• 8.1.Member States may divide the days present within the area given in Table I into management periods of durations of one or more calendar months.

• 8.2.The number of days for which a vessel may be present within the area during a management period shall be fixed at the discretion of Member States concerned.

• 8.3.In any given management period a vessel that has used the number of days present within the area for which it is eligible shall remain in port or out of the area for the remainder of the management period unless it is using a gear for which no maximum number of days has been fixed.

• 9.1.An additional number of days at sea on which a vessel may be authorized by its flag Member State to be present within the geographical area when carrying on board any of the gears referred to in point 3 may be allocated to Member States by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessations of fishing activities that have taken place since 1 January 2004 either in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 or resulting from other circumstances duly motivated by Member States. The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using the gear in question shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using that gear during 2003.

- The additional number of days at sea shall be then calculated by multiplying the ratio so obtained by the number of days that would have been allocated according to Table I. Any part of a day resulting from this calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day.

• This point shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 4.2 or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.

• 9.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 9.1 shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for each grouping of fishing gears the details of the calculation based on

• — lists of withdrawn vessels with their Community Fleet Register number (CFR) and their engine power;

• — the fishing activity deployed by such vessels in 2003 calculated in days at sea by concerned grouping of fishing gears.

• 9.3.On the basis of such a request the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.2 for that Member State in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

- 9.4.During the 2008 management period, a Member State may re-allocate those additional numbers of days at sea to all the vessels remaining in fleet and qualified for the relevant grouping of fishing gears or to part of them by applying, mutatis mutandis, the provisions laid down in points 7.3 and 7.4.

- 9.5.Any additional number of days resulting from a permanent cessation of activity previously allocated by the Commission remains allocated in 2008.

- 10.1.Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying onboard any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be allocated between 1 February 2008 and 31 January 2009 to Member States by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of observer coverage in partnership between scientists and the fishing industry. Such a programme shall focus in particular on levels of discarding and on catch composition and go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000, Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 and Regulation (EC) No 1581/2004 for the minimum and extended programme levels.

- Observers shall be independent from the owner of the vessel and shall not be a member of the fishing vessel crew.

• 10.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 10.1 shall submit a description of their enhanced observer coverage programme to the Commission for approval.

• 10.3.On the basis of this description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.1 for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of observers in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

• 10.4.If such a programme submitted by a Member Stated has been approved by the Commission in the past and the Member State wishes to continue its application without changes, the Member State shall inform the Commission of the continuation of its enhanced observer coverage programme four weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies.

Table I

Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by fishing gear per year

Gear point 3	Denomination Only the gear groupings as defined in point 3 are used	Western Channel
3.a.	Beam trawls of mesh size ≥ 80 mm	192
3.b.	Static nets with mesh size < 220 mm	192

EXCHANGES OF FISHING EFFORT ALLOCATIONS

11. Transfer of days between fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State

• 11.1.A Member State may permit any of its fishing vessels flying its flag to transfer days present within the area for which it has been authorised to another of its vessels flying its flag within the area provided that the product of the days received by a vessel and its engine power in kilowatts (kilowatt days) is equal to or less than the product of the days transferred by the donor vessel and the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. The engine power in kilowatts of the vessels shall be that recorded for each vessel in the Community fishing fleet register.

- 11.2.The total number of days present within the area, multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of the donor vessel, shall not be higher than the donor vessel's average annual days track record in the area as verified by the Community logbook in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel.

• 11.3.The transfer of days as described in point 11.1 shall be permitted only between vessels operating within the same gear grouping referred to in point 3 and during the same management period.

- 11.4.On request from the Commission, Member States shall provide reports on the transfers that have taken place. A detailed format of spreadsheet for making these reports available to the Commission may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

12. Transfer of days between fishing vessels flying the flag of different Member States

Member States may permit transfer of days present within the area for the same management period and within the area between any fishing vessels flying their flags provided the same provisions as laid down in points 4.2, 4.4, 6 and 11 apply. Where Member States decide to authorize such a transfer, as a preliminary they shall notify the Commission before such transfers take place, the details of the transfer, including the number of days transferred, the fishing effort and, where applicable, the fishing quotas relating thereto, as agreed between them.

USE OF FISHING GEAR

13. Notification of fishing gear

Before the first day of each management period the master of a vessel or his representative shall notify to the authorities of the flag Member State which gear or gears he intends to use during the forthcoming management period. Until such notification is provided the vessel shall not be entitled to fish within the area defined in point 1 with any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3.

14. Non-fishing related activities

In any given management period a vessel may undertake non-fishing related activities, without that time being counted against its days allocated under point 7, provided that the vessel first notifies its flag Member State of its intention to do so, the nature of its activity and that it surrenders its fishing licence for that time. Such vessels shall not carry any fishing gear or fish on board during that time.

TRANSIT

A vessel shall be allowed to transit across the area provided that it has no fishing permit to operate in the area or it has first notified its authorities of its intention to do so. While that vessel is within the area any fishing gears carried on board must be lashed and stowed in accordance with conditions laid down in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

MONITORING, INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE

16. Fishing effort messages

Articles 19b, 19c, 19d, 19e and 19k of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall apply to vessels carrying on board the groupings of fishing gear defined in point 3 of this Annex and operating in the area defined in point 1 of this Annex. Vessels equipped with vessel monitoring systems in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 shall be excluded from these hailing requirements set out in Article 19(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

17. Recording of relevant data

Member States shall ensure that the following data received pursuant to Articles 8, 10(1) and 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 are recorded in a computer-readable form:

- (a) entry into, and exit from port;

• (b) each entry into, and exit from maritime areas where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply.

18. Cross-checks

Member States shall verify the submission of logbooks and relevant information recorded in the logbook by using VMS data. Such cross-checks shall be recorded and made available to the Commission on request.

19. Alternative control measures

Member States may implement alternative control measures to ensure compliance with the obligations referred to in point 16 which are as effective and transparent as these reporting obligations. Such alternative measures shall be notified to the Commission before being implemented.

The master of a Community vessel or his representative wishing to tranship any quantity retained on board or to land in a port or landing location of a third-country shall inform the competent authorities of the flag Member State at least 24 hours prior to transhipping or to landing in a third-country the information referred to in Article 19b of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

By way of derogation from Article 5(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83, the permitted margin of tolerance, when estimating quantities, in kilograms retained on board of vessels referred to in point 16 shall be 8 % of the logbook figure. Where no conversion factors are laid down in Community legislation, the conversion factors adopted by the Member states whose flag the vessel is flying shall apply.

When quantities of sole greater than 50 kg are stowed on board a vessel, it shall be prohibited to retain on board a fishing vessel in any container any quantity of Sole mixed with any other species of marine organism. The masters of Community vessels shall give inspectors of Member States such assistance as will enable the quantities declared in the logbook and the catches of sole retained on board to be cross checked.

23. Weighing

• 23.1.The competent authorities of a Member State shall ensure that any quantity of sole exceeding 300 kg caught in the area shall be weighed using auction room scales before sale.

- 23.2.The competent authorities of a Member State may require that any quantity of sole exceeding 300 kg caught in the area and first landed in that Member State is weighed in the presence of controllers before being transported from the port of first landing.

By way of derogation from Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, quantities greater than 50 kg of any species in fisheries referred to in Article 8 of this Regulation which are transported to a place other than that of landing or import shall be accompanied by a copy of one of the declarations provided for in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 pertaining to the quantities of these species transported. The exemption provided for in Article 13(4)(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall not apply.

25. Specific monitoring programme

By way of derogation from Article 34c(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, the specific monitoring programme for any of the stocks in fisheries referred to in Article 8 of this Regulation may last more than two years from their date of entry into force.

REPORTING OBLIGATIONS

26. Collection of relevant data

Member States, on the basis of information used for the management of fishing days present within the area as set out in this Annex, shall collect for each annual quarter the information about total fishing effort deployed within the area for towed gears and static gears and effort deployed by vessels using different types of gear in the area concerned by this Annex.

• 27.1.On request of the Commission, Members States shall make available to the Commission a spreadsheet with the data referred to in point 26 in the format specified in Tables II and III by sending it to the appropriate electronic mailbox address, which shall be communicated to the Member States by the Commission.

- 27.2.A new format of spreadsheet for the purpose of making the data referred to in point 26 available to the Commission may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Table II

Reporting format

Country	CFR	External marking	Length of management period	Area fished	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Gear(s) notified	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days eligible using notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Days spent with notified gear(s)	Transfer of days
Country	CFR	External marking	Length of management period	Area fished	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	N°1	N°2	N°3	…	Transfer of days
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(10)

Table III

Data format

Name of field	Maximum number of characters/digits	Alignment [^E0233] L(eft)/R(ight)	Definition and Comments
(1) Country	3	n/r	Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) in which vessel is registered for fishing under Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. In the case of the donor Vessel, it is always the reporting country
(2) CFR	12	n/r	Community Fleet Register number Unique identification number of a fishing vessel. Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) followed by an identifying series (9 characters). Where a series has fewer than 9 characters additional zeros must be inserted on the left hand side.
(3) External marking	14	L	Under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87
(4) Length of management period	2	L	Length of the management period measured in months.
(5) Area fished	1	L	Non relevant information in the case of Annex IIC.
(6) gear(s) notified	5	L	Indication of gear grouping notified in accordance with point 3 to Annex IIC (a or b)
(7) Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	2	L	Non relevant information in the case of Annex IIC.
(8) Days eligible using notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days for which the vessel is eligible under Annex IIC for the choice of gear groupings and length of management period notified.
(9) Days spent with notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days the vessel actually spent present within the area and using a gear corresponding to grouping gear notified during the notified management period according to Annex IIC.
(10) Transfers of days	4	L	For days transferred indicate ‘– number of days transferred’ and for days received indicate ‘+ number of days transferred’

relevant information for transmission of data by fixed-length formatting.

ANNEX IID

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES AND FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS FISHING FOR SANDEEL IN ICES ZONES IIIa AND IV AND IN EC WATERS OF ICES ZONE IIa

• 1.The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to Community vessels fishing in ICES zones IIIa and IV and in EC waters of ICES zone IIa with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm.

• 2.The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to third country vessels authorized to fish for sandeel in EC waters of ICES zone IV unless otherwise specified, or as a consequence of consultations between the Community and Norway as set out in point 7.3 of the Agreed Record of conclusions between the European Community and Norway of 26 November 2007.

• 3.For the purposes of this Annex a day present within the area shall be:

• (a) the 24-hour period between 00:00 hours of a calendar day and 24:00 hours of the same calendar day or any part of such a period or;

• (b) any continuous period of 24 hours as recorded in the Community logbook between the date and time of departure and the date and time of arrival or any part of any such time period.

• 4.Each Member State concerned shall maintain a data base containing for ICES zones IIIa and IV and for each vessel flying its flag or registered within the Community which have been fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm, the following information:

• (a) the name and internal registration number of the vessel;

• (b) the installed engine power of the vessel in kilowatts measured in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86;

• (c) the number of days present within the area when fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gear with a mesh size of less than 16 mm;

• (d) the kilowatt-days as the product of the number of days present within the area and the installed engine power in kilowatts.

• 5.Exploratory fishery relating to sandeel abundance shall start no earlier than 1 April 2008 and end no later than 6 May 2008.

- The total ceiling of fishing effort allowed in the exploratory fishery relating to sandeel abundance in 2008 shall be determined on the basis of the total fishing effort deployed by Community fishing vessels in 2007 established in accordance with point 4 and shall be divided among Member States in accordance with the quota allocations for this TAC.

• For the unallocated quota for this TAC, the fishing effort allowed in the exploratory fishery relating to sandeel abundance in 2008 shall be distributed to Member States whose vessels have a record of fishing activity in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 in that area. This will correspond to a share of fishing effort of 96 % for Sweden and a share of 4 % for Germany.

- 6.The TAC and quotas for sandeel in ICES zone IIIa and IV and in EC waters of ICES zones IIa as laid down in Annex I shall be revised by the Commission as early as possible based on advice from ICES and the STECF on the size of the 2007 year class of North Sea sandeel, taking into account the following principles as well as other relevant elements contained in the scientific advice:

- The TAC for EC waters of ICES zones IIa and IV shall be established according to the following function:

- TAC 2008 = - 138 + 3,77 × N1× Wobs/Wm

• N1 is the real-time estimate of age group 1 in billions derived from the exploratory fishery in 2008; the TAC is expressed in 1,000 tonnes; Wobs is the observed mean weight of age group 1 during the exploratory fishery; and Wm (4,75 g) is the long-term mean weight of age group 1.

- 7.If the TAC calculated in point 6 exceeds 400 000 tonnes, the TAC shall be set at 400 000 tonnes.

• 8.Commercial fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm, shall be prohibited from 1 August 2008 until 31 December 2008.

ANNEX III

TRANSITIONAL TECHNICAL AND CONTROL MEASURES

Part A

North Atlantic including the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat

It shall be prohibited to land or retain on board herring caught in EC waters of zone IIa in the periods 1 January to 28 February and 16 May to 31 December.

By way of derogation from the provisions set out in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No 850/98, the provisions in Appendix 1 to this Annex shall apply.

• 3.1.By way of derogation from Article 31(1) of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 fishing with beam trawl using electrical pulse current shall be allowed in ICES zones IVc and IVb south of a rhumb line joined by the following points, which shall be measured according to the WGS84 coordinate system:

• — a point on the east coast of the United Kingdom at latitude 55° N,

• — then east to latitude 55° N, longitude 5° E,

- — then north to latitude 56° N,

• — and finally east to a point on the west coast of Denmark at latitude 56° N.

• 3.2.The following measures shall apply in 2008:

• (a) no more than 5 % of the beam trawler fleet by Member State shall be allowed to use the electric pulse trawl;

• (b) the maximum electrical power in kW for each beam trawl shall be no more than the length in metre of the beam multiplied by 1,25 ;

• (c) the effective voltage between the electrodes shall be no more than 15V;