Council Regulation (EU) No 1124/2010 of 29 November 2010 fixing for 2011 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in the Baltic Sea

CHAPTER I

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation fixes for 2011 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks in the Baltic Sea.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation shall apply to EU vessels operating in the Baltic Sea.

Article 3

Definitions

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

(a) the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 of 21 December 2005 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures in the Baltic Sea, the Belts and the Sound (⁵);

(b) ‘Baltic Sea’ means ICES Subdivisions 22-32;

(c) ‘EU vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;

(d) ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity that can be taken from each stock each year;

(e) ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country;

(f) ‘day absent from port’ means any continuous period of 24 hours or part thereof during which the vessel is absent from port.

CHAPTER II

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES

Article 4

TACs and allocations

The TACs, the allocation of such TACs among Member States, and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in Annex I.

Article 5

Special provisions on allocations

The allocation of fishing opportunities among Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to:

(a) exchanges made pursuant to Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002;

(b) 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;

(d) quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96;

(e) deductions made pursuant to Articles 37, 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Article 6

Conditions for landing catches and by-catches

Fish from stocks for which catch limits are established shall be retained on board or landed only if:

(a) the catches have been taken by vessels of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted; or

(b) the catches consist of a share in a Union quota which has not been allocated by quota among Member States, and that Union quota has not been exhausted.

Article 7

Fishing effort limits

CHAPTER III

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 8

Data transmission

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send the Commission data relating to landings of quantities of stocks caught, they shall use the stock codes set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 9

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 2011.

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

ANNEX I

TACS APPLICABLE TO EU VESSELS IN AREAS WHERE TACS EXIST BY SPECIES AND BY AREA

The following tables set out the TACs and quotas (in tonnes live weight, except where otherwise specified) by stock, and conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate.

The references to fishing zones are references to ICES zones, unless otherwise specified.

Within each area, fish stocks are referred to following the alphabetical order of the Latin names of the species. The following table of correspondences of Latin names and common names is given for the purposes of this Regulation:

ANNEX II

FISHING EFFORT LIMITS

1.Member States shall allocate the right to vessels flying their flag and fishing with trawls, Danish seines or similar gear of a mesh size equal to or larger than 90 mm, with gillnets, entangling nets or trammel nets of a mesh size equal to or larger than 90 mm, with bottom set lines, longlines except drifting lines, handlines and jigging equipment, to be up to:

(a) 163 days absent from port in ICES Subdivisions 22-24, with the exception of the period from 1 to 30 April when Article 8(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 applies; and

(b) 160 days absent from port in ICES Subdivisions 25-28, with the exception of the period from 1 July to 31 August when Article 8(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 applies.

2.The maximum number of days absent from port per year for which a vessel may be present within the two areas referred to in point 1(a) and (b) fishing with the gears specified in point 1 may not exceed the maximum number of days absent from port allocated for one of these two areas.

3.By way of derogation from points 1 and 2, and where efficient management of fishing opportunities so requires, a Member State may allocate to vessels flying its flag the right to additional days absent from port where an equal amount of days absent from port is withdrawn from other vessels flying its flag that are subject to effort restriction in the same area and where the capacity, in terms of kW, of each of the donor vessels is equal to, or larger than, that of the receiving vessels. The number of receiving vessels may not exceed 10 % of the total number of vessels of the Member State concerned, as indicated in point 1.