Council Regulation (EU) No 57/2011 of 18 January 2011 fixing for 2011 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in EU waters and, for EU vessels, in certain non-EU waters

TITLE I

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation fixes the following fishing opportunities:

(a) for the year 2011, catch limits for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks;

(b) for the period from 1 February 2011 to 31 January 2012, certain effort limits;

(c) for the periods set out in Articles 20, 21 and 22 and in Annexes IE and V, fishing opportunities for certain stocks in the Convention Area of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR);

(d) for the periods set out in Article 28, fishing opportunities for certain stocks in the Convention Area of the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC); and

(e) additional fishing opportunities for mackerel resulting from uncaught quota in 2010.

Article 2

Scope

If not otherwise provided for, this Regulation shall apply to:

(a) EU vessels; and

(b) third-country vessels in EU waters.

Article 3

Definitions

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

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

(b) ‘third-country vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of, and registered in, a third country;

(c) ‘EU waters’ means waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States with the exception of waters adjacent to the territories mentioned in Annex II to the Treaty;

(d) ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity that can be taken and landed 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) ‘international waters’ means waters falling outside the sovereignty or jurisdiction of any State;

(g) ‘mesh size’ means the mesh size as determined in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 517/2008 (¹⁸);

(h) ‘EU fishing fleet register’ means the register set up by the Commission in accordance with Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002;

(i) ‘fishing logbook’ means the logbook referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

Article 4

Fishing zones

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

(a) ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zones are as defined in Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 (¹⁹);

(b) ‘Skagerrak’ means the area bounded on the west by a line drawn from the Hanstholm lighthouse to the Lindesnes lighthouse and on the south by a line drawn from the Skagen lighthouse to the Tistlarna lighthouse and from this point to the nearest point on the Swedish coast;

(c) ‘Kattegat’ means the area bounded on the north by a line drawn from the Skagen lighthouse to the Tistlarna lighthouse and from this point to the nearest point on the Swedish coast and on the south by a line drawn from Hasenøre to Gnibens Spids, from Korshage to Spodsbjerg and from Gilbjerg Hoved to Kullen;

(d) ‘VII (Porcupine Bank – Unit 16)’ means the area bounded by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following positions: — 53° 30′ N 15° 00′ W, — 53° 30′ N 11° 00′ W, — 51° 30′ N 11° 00′ W, — 51° 30′ N 13° 00′ W, — 51° 00′ N 13° 00′ W, — 51° 00′ N 15° 00′ W, — 53° 30′ N 15° 00′ W;

(e) ‘Gulf of Cádiz’ means the area of ICES division IXa east of longitude 7° 23′ 48″ W;

(f) CECAF (Eastern Central Atlantic or FAO major fishing zone 34) zones are as defined in Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 (²⁰);

(g) NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation) zones are as defined in Regulation (EC) No 217/2009 (²¹);

(h) the SEAFO (South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation) Convention Area is as defined in the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South-East Atlantic Ocean (²²);

(i) the ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) Convention Area is as defined in the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (²³);

(j) the CCAMLR (Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Convention Area is as defined in Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 (²⁴);

(k) the IATTC (Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission) Convention Area is as defined in the Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission established by the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica (²⁵);

(l) the IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) Area is as defined in the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (²⁶);

(m) ‘SPRFMO (South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation) Convention Area’ means the high seas area south of 10° N, north of the CCAMLR Convention Area, east of the SIOFA Convention Area as defined in the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (²⁷), and west of the areas of fisheries jurisdictions of South American States;

(n) the WCPFC (Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission) Convention Area is as defined in the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (²⁸);

(o) ‘high seas of the Bering Sea’ means the area of the high seas of the Bering Sea beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of the coastal States of the Bering Sea is measured.

TITLE II

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EU VESSELS

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 5

TACs and allocations

In the light of scientific information collected during the first half of 2011, TACs set out in Annex I for the following stocks may be revised by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002:

(a) sandeel in EU waters of ICES divisions IIa and IIIa and ICES subarea IV in accordance with Annex IID to this Regulation;

(b) the stock of Norway pout and associated by-catches in ICES Subarea IIIa and EU waters of ICES division IIa and ICES Subarea IV and the stock of sprat in EU waters of ICES division IIa and ICES Subarea IV.

Article 6

Special provisions on certain TACs

Certain TACs in Annex IA, identified by a footnote with a cross-reference to this Article, shall be determined by the Member State concerned, on the basis of data collected and assessed by that Member State, at a level that:

(a) is consistent with the principles and rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, in particular the principle of sustainable exploitation of the stock; and

(b) shall, with as high probability as possible, result in the exploitation of the stock consistent with maximum sustainable yield from 2015 onwards.

Article 7

Additional allocation for vessels participating in trials on fully documented fisheries

A Member State may grant additional allocation to vessels only in accordance with the following conditions:

(a) the vessel makes use of a close circuit television cameras (CCTV), associated to a system of sensors that record all fishing and processing activities on board the vessel;

(b) an amount of the additional allocation granted to an individual vessel that participates in fully documented fisheries shall be no more than 75 % of the discards predicted by that type of vessel, and in any case shall not represent more than a 30 % increase of the vessel’s allocation;

(c) all catches of the relevant stock by that vessel shall be counted against its allocation.

A Member State intending to apply paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, shall, before any additional allocation is granted, submit to the Commission the following information:

— the list of vessels participating in the trials, and the specifications of the remote electronic monitoring equipment installed on board;

— the capacity, type and specification of gears used by those vessels;

— the estimated discard rates of those types of vessels; and

— the amount of catches of the stock subject to the relevant TAC made by those vessels in 2010.

Article 8

Prohibited species

It shall be prohibited for EU vessels to fish for, to retain on board, to tranship or to land the following species:

(a) basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) and white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in all EU and non-EU waters;

(b) angel shark (Squatina squatina) in all EU waters;

(c) common skate (Dipturus batis) in EU waters of ICES division IIa and ICES subareas III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X;

(d) undulate ray (Raja undulata) and white skate (Rostroraja alba) in EU waters of ICES subareas VI, VII, VIII, IX and X;

(e) porbeagle (Lamna nasus) in all waters, except where it is provided otherwise in Annex IA; and

(f) guitarfishes (Rhinobatidae) in EU waters of ICES subareas I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XII.

Article 9

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 or pursuant to Article 10(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008;

(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 10

Fishing effort limits

From 1 February 2011 to 31 January 2012, the fishing effort measures laid down in:

(a) Annex IIA, shall apply for the management of certain stocks in the Kattegat, the Skagerrak, that part of ICES division IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and the Kattegat, ICES subarea IV and ICES divisions VIa, VIIa and VIId and EU waters of ICES divisions IIa and Vb;

(b) Annex IIB, shall apply for the recovery of hake and Norway lobster in ICES divisions VIIIc and IXa, with the exception of the Gulf of Cádiz;

(c) Annex IIC, shall apply for the management of the sole stock in ICES division VIIe.

Article 11

Catch and effort limits for deep-sea fisheries

Article 12

Conditions for landing catches and by-catches

Fish from stocks for which TACs 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 EU quota which has not been allocated by quota among Member States, and that EU quota has not been exhausted.

Article 13

Restrictions on the use of certain fishing opportunities

For the purposes of this Article, the Porcupine Bank shall comprise the area bounded by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following positions:

Point	Latitude	Longitude
1	52° 27′ N	12° 19′ W
2	52° 40′ N	12° 30′ W
3	52° 47′ N	12° 39,600′ W
4	52° 47′ N	12° 56′ W
5	52° 13,5′ N	13° 53,830′ W
6	51° 22′ N	14° 24′ W
7	51° 22′ N	14° 03′ W
8	52° 10′ N	13° 25′ W
9	52° 32′ N	13° 07,500′ W
10	52° 43′ N	12° 55′ W
11	52° 43′ N	12° 43′ W
12	52° 38,800′ N	12° 37′ W
13	52° 27′ N	12° 23′ W
14	52° 27′ N	12° 19′ W

Article 14

Data transmission

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send to 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.

CHAPTER II

Fishing authorisation in third-country waters

Article 15

Fishing authorisations

CHAPTER III

Fishing opportunities in waters of regional fisheries management organisations

Section 1

ICCAT Convention Area

Article 16

Fishing and farming and fattening capacity limitations for bluefin tuna

Article 17

Additional conditions to the bluefin tuna quota allocated in Annex ID

In addition to the prohibition period provided for in Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 302/2009, purse-seine fishing for bluefin tuna shall be prohibited in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean during the period from 15 April to 15 May 2011.

Article 18

Recreational and sport fisheries

Member States shall allocate a specific quota of bluefin tuna for recreational and sport fisheries from their quotas allocated in Annex ID.

Article 19

Sharks

Section 2

CCAMLR Convention Area

Article 20

Prohibitions and catch limitations

Article 21

Exploratory fisheries

Article 22

Krill fishery during the 2011/2012 fishing season

Only those Member States which are members of the CCAMLR Commission may fish for krill (Euphausia superba) in the CCAMLR Convention Area during the 2011/2012 fishing season. If such a Member State intends to fish for krill in the CCAMLR Convention Area, it shall notify the CCAMLR Secretariat, in accordance with Article 5a of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004, and the Commission, and in any case no later than 1 June 2011:

(a) of its intention to fish for krill, using the format laid down in Annex V, Part C;

(b) of the net configuration form, using the format laid down in Annex V, Part D.

Member States shall be entitled to authorise participation in a krill fishery by a vessel other than those notified to CCAMLR Secretariat in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, if an authorised vessel is prevented from participation due to legitimate operational reasons or force majeure. In such circumstances the Member State concerned shall immediately inform the CCAMLR Secretariat and the Commission, providing:

(a) full details of the intended replacement vessel(s), including information provided for in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004;

(b) a comprehensive account of the reasons justifying the replacement and any relevant supporting evidence or references.

Section 3

IOTC Area

Article 23

Limitation of fishing capacity of vessels fishing in the IOTC Area

Article 24

Sharks

Section 4

SPRFMO Convention Area

Article 25

Pelagic fisheries – capacity limitation

Member States having actively exercised pelagic fisheries activities in the SPRFMO Convention Area in 2007, 2008, or 2009 shall limit the total level of gross tonnage of vessels flying their flag and fishing for pelagic stocks in 2011 to the levels of total 78 610 gross tonnage in that Area in such manner that sustainable exploitation of the pelagic fishery resources in South Pacific is ensured.

Article 26

Pelagic fisheries - TACs

Article 27

Bottom fisheries

The Member States referred to in Article 25 shall limit bottom fishing effort or catch in the SPRFMO Convention Area to the average annual levels over the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2006 in terms of the number of fishing vessels and other parameters that reflect the level of catch, fishing effort and fishing capacity and to only those parts of the SPRFMO Convention Area where bottom fisheries has occurred during the previous fishing season.

Section 5

IATTC Convention Area

Article 28

Purse-seine fisheries

The fishing by purse-seine vessels for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) shall be prohibited:

(a) either from 29 July to 28 September 2011 or from 18 November 2011 to 18 January 2012 in the area defined by the following limits: — the Pacific coastlines of the Americas, — longitude 150° W, — latitude 40° N, — latitude 40° S;

(b) from 29 September to 29 October 2011 in the area defined by the following limits: — longitude 96° W, — longitude 110° W, — latitude 4° N, — latitude 3° S.

Section 6

SEAFO Convention Area

Article 29

Measures for the protection of deep water sharks

Directed fishing for the following deep water sharks in the SEAFO Convention Area shall be prohibited:

— skates (Rajidae),

— spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias),

— blurred smooth lanternshark (Etmopterus bigelowi),

— shorttail lanternshark (Etmopterus brachyurus),

— great lanternshark (Etmopterus princeps),

— smooth lanternshark (Etmopterus pusillus),

— ghost catshark (Apristurus manis),

— velvet dogfish (Scymnodon squamulosus),

— and deep-sea sharks of super-order Selachimorpha.

Section 7

WCPFC Convention Area

Article 30

Fishing effort limitations for bigeye tuna, yellowfin tuna, skipjack tuna and south Pacific albacore

Member States shall ensure that the total fishing effort for bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and south Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) in the WCPFC Convention Area is limited to the fishing effort provided for in fisheries partnership agreements between the Union and coastal States in the region.

Article 31

Closed area for FAD fishing

In the part of the WCPFC Convention Area located between 20° N and 20° S, fishing activities of purse-seine vessels making use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) shall be prohibited between 00:00 hours on 1 July 2011 and 24:00 hours on 30 September 2011. During that period, a purse-seine vessel may only engage in fishing operations within that part of the WCPFC Convention Area if it carries onboard an observer to monitor that at no time does the vessel:

(a) deploy or service a FAD or associated electronic device;

(b) fish on schools in association with FADs.

Paragraph 2 shall not apply in the following cases:

(a) in the final set of a trip, if the vessel has insufficient well space left to accommodate all fish;

(b) where the fish is unfit for human consumption for reasons other than those connected with size; or

(c) when a serious malfunction of freezer equipment occurs.

Article 32

Closed areas for purse-seine fisheries

The fishing by purse-seine vessels for bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna shall be prohibited in the following high seas areas: