Council Regulation (EU) No 1262/2012 of 20 December 2012 fixing for 2013 and 2014 the fishing opportunities for EU vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation fixes for the years 2013 and 2014 the annual fishing opportunities available to EU vessels for fish stocks of certain deep-sea species in EU waters and in certain non-EU waters where catch limits are required.

Article 2

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) ‘EU waters’ means the 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;

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

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

(e) ‘international waters’ means waters falling outside the sovereignty or jurisdiction of any State.

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

(a) ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁵);

(b) CECAF (Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁶).

Article 3

TACs and allocations

The TACs for deep-sea species caught by EU vessels in EU waters or in certain non-EU waters, the allocation of such TACs among Member States and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 4

Special provisions on allocations of fishing opportunities

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) deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (⁷) or pursuant to Article 10(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008 (⁸);

(c) additional landings allowed pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96;

(d) quantities withheld pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96;

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

Article 5

Conditions for landing catches and by-catches

Fish from stocks for which TACs are established shall be retained on board or landed only if the catches have been taken by vessels flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted.

Article 6

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 2013.

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

ANNEX

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

PART 1

Definition of species and species groups

1.In the list set out in Part 2 of this Annex, fish stocks are referred to following the alphabetical order of the Latin names of the species. However, deep-sea sharks are placed at the beginning of that list. For the purposes of this Regulation, the following comparative table of common names and Latin names is provided:

2.For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘deep-sea sharks’ means the following list of species:

PART 2

Annual fishing opportunities applicable for EU vessels in areas where TACs exist by species and by area (in tonnes live weight)