Council Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 of 20 January 2014 fixing for 2014 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, to Union vessels, in certain non-Union waters

ANNEX IB

NORTH EAST ATLANTIC AND GREENLAND ICES SUBAREAS I, II, V, XII AND XIV AND GREENLAND WATERS OF NAFO 1

ANNEX IC

NORTH WEST ATLANTIC

NAFO CONVENTION AREA

All TACs and associated conditions are adopted in the framework of NAFO.

ANNEX ID

HIGHLY MIGRATORY FISH – ALL AREAS

TACs in these areas are adopted in the framework of international fisheries organisations on tuna fisheries, such as ICCAT.

ANNEX IE

ANTARCTIC

CCAMLR CONVENTION AREA

These TACs, adopted by CCAMLR, are not allocated to the members of CCAMLR and hence the Union's share is undetermined. Catches are monitored by the Secretariat of CCAMLR, which will communicate when fishing shall cease due to TAC exhaustion.

Unless specified otherwise, these TACs are applicable for the period from 1 December 2013 to 30 November 2014.

ANNEX IF

SOUTH-EAST ATLANTIC OCEAN SEAFO CONVENTION AREA

These TACs are not allocated to the members of SEAFO and hence the Union's share is undetermined. Catches are monitored by the Secretariat of SEAFO, who will communicate when fishing shall cease due to TAC exhaustion.

ANNEX IG

ANNEX IH

ANNEX IJ

ANNEX IIA

FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MANAGEMENT OF CERTAIN COD, PLAICE AND SOLE STOCKS IN ICES DIVISIONS IIIA, VIA, VIIA, VIID, ICES SUBAREA IV AND UNION WATERS OF ICES DIVISIONS IIA AND VB

1. Scope

1.1.This Annex shall apply to Union vessels carrying on board or deploying any of the gears referred to in point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 and present in any of the geographical areas specified in point 2 of this Annex.

1.2.This Annex shall not apply to vessels of less than 10 metres' length overall. Those vessels shall not be required to carry fishing authorisations issued in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. Member States concerned shall assess the fishing effort of those vessels by effort groups to which they belong, using appropriate sampling methods. During 2014, the Commission shall seek scientific advice for evaluating the effort deployment of those vessels, with a view to their future inclusion into the effort regime.

2. Regulated gears and geographical areas

For the purposes of this Annex, the gear groupings referred to in point 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 ("regulated gear") and the groupings of geographical areas referred to in point 2 of that Annex shall apply.

3. Authorisations

If a Member State deems so appropriate in order to reinforce the sustainable implementation of this effort regime, it may introduce a prohibition to fish with a regulated gear in any of the geographical areas to which this Annex applies by any of vessels flying its flag which has no record of such fishing activity, unless it ensures that equivalent capacity, measured in kilowatts, is prevented from fishing in that area.

4. Maximum allowable fishing effort

4.1.The maximum allowable effort referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 and in Article 9(2) of Regulation (EC) No 676/2007 for the 2014 management period, i.e. from 1 February 2014 to 31 January 2015, for each of the effort groups of each Member State is set out in Appendix 1 to this Annex.

4.2.The maximum levels of annual fishing effort set in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1954/2003 (³⁴) shall not affect the maximum allowable fishing effort set in this Annex.

5. Management

5.1.Member States shall manage the maximum allowable effort in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 676/2007, Article 4 and Articles 13 to 17 of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 and Articles 26 to 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

5.2.A Member State may establish management periods for allocating all or parts of the maximum allowable effort to individual vessels or groups of vessels. In such case, the number of days or hours 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. During any such management periods, the Member State concerned may reallocate effort between individual vessels or groups of vessels.

5.3.If a Member State authorises vessels flying its flag to be present within an area by hours, it shall continue measuring the consumption of days in accordance with the conditions referred to in point 5.1. Upon request by the Commission, the Member State concerned shall demonstrate its precautionary measures taken to avoid an excessive consumption of effort within the area due to a vessel terminating presences in the area before the end of a 24-hour period.

6. Fishing effort report

Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall apply to vessels falling under the scope of this Annex. The geographical area referred to in that Article shall be understood, for the purpose of cod management, as each of the geographical areas referred to in point 2 of this Annex.

7. Communication of relevant data

Member States shall transmit to the Commission the data on fishing effort deployed by their fishing vessels in accordance with Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. These data shall be transmitted via the Fisheries Data Exchange System or any future data collection system implemented by the Commission.

Appendix 1 to Annex IIA

Maximum allowable fishing effort in kilowatt days

(a) Kattegat:

(b) Skagerrak, that part of ICES division IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and the Kattegat; ICES subarea IV and Union waters of ICES division IIa; ICES division VIId:

(c) ICES division VIIa:

(d) ICES division VIa and Union waters of ICES division Vb:

ANNEX IIB

FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN SOUTHERN HAKE AND NORWAY LOBSTER STOCKS IN ICES DIVISIONS VIIIC AND IXA EXCLUDING THE GULF OF CÁDIZ

CHAPTER I

General provisions

This Annex shall apply to Union vessels of 10 metres' length overall or more carrying on board or deploying trawls, Danish seines or 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 or bottom longlines in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2166/2005, and present in ICES divisions VIIIc and IXa excluding the Gulf of Cádiz.

For the purposes of this Annex:

(a) 'gear grouping' means the grouping consisting of the following two gear categories: (i) trawls, Danish seines or similar gears of mesh size equal to or larger than 32 mm and (ii) gill-nets of mesh size equal to or larger than 60 mm and bottom longlines;

(b) 'regulated gear' means any of the two gear categories belonging to the gear grouping;

(c) 'area' means ICES divisions VIIIc and IXa excluding the Gulf of Cádiz;

(d) '2014 management period' means the period from 1 February 2014 to 31 January 2015;

(e) 'special conditions' means the special conditions set out in point 6.1.

Without prejudice to Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, each Member State shall ensure that, when carrying on board any regulated gear, Union vessels flying its flag shall be present within the area for no more than the number of days specified in Chapter III of this Annex.

CHAPTER II

Authorisations

4.1.A Member State shall not authorise fishing with a regulated gear in the area by any of vessels flying its flag which have no record of such fishing activity in the years 2002 to 2013 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 area.

4.2.A vessel flying the flag of a Member State having no quotas in the area shall not be authorised to fish in the area with a regulated gear, unless the vessel is allocated a quota after a transfer as permitted in accordance with Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and is allocated days at sea in accordance with point 11 or 12 of this Annex.

CHAPTER III

Number of days present within the area allocated to union vessels

5.1.During the 2014 management period, the maximum number of days at sea for which a Member State may authorise a vessel flying its flag to be present within the area having carried on board any regulated gear is shown in Table I.

5.2.If a vessel is able to demonstrate that its hake catches represent less than 4 % of the total live weight of fish caught in a given fishing trip, the flag Member State of the vessel shall be allowed not to count the days at sea associated with that fishing trip against the applicable maximum number of days at sea as set out in Table I.

6.1.For the purposes of fixing the maximum number of days at sea an Union vessel may be authorised by its flag Member State to be present within the area, the following special conditions shall apply in accordance with Table I:

(a) the total landings of hake in the year 2011 or 2012 made by the vessel concerned shall represent less than 5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight; and

(b) the total landings of Norway lobster in the year 2011 or 2012 made by the vessel concerned shall represent less than 2,5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight.

6.2.If a vessel benefits from an unlimited number of days as a result of its compliance with the special conditions, the vessel's landings in the 2014 management period shall not exceed 5 tonnes of the total landings in live weight of hake and 2,5 tonnes of the total landings in live weight of Norway lobster.

6.3.When either of the special 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 condition.

6.4.The application of the special conditions referred to in point 6.1. may be transferred from one vessel to one or more other vessels which replace that vessel in the fleet, provided that the replacing vessel uses similar gear and does not have in any year of its operation a record of landings of hake and Norway lobster higher than the quantities specified in point 6.1.

7.1.A Member State may manage its fishing effort allocations in accordance with a kilowatt days system. Through that system it may authorise any vessel concerned by any regulated gear and special conditions as set out 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 regulated gear and to the special conditions is respected.

7.2.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 regulated gear and, where applicable, the special conditions. 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 point 7.1. were not applied. For as long as the number of days is unlimited according to Table I, the relevant number of days the vessel would benefit from is 360.

7.3.A Member State wishing to benefit from the system referred to in point 7.1. shall submit a request to the Commission, with reports in electronic format containing, for the regulated gear and special conditions as laid down in Table I, the details of the calculation based on:

(a) list of vessels authorised to fish by indicating their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

(b) track record of 2011 and 2012 for such vessels reflecting the catch composition defined in the special condition referred to in point 6.1.(a) or (b), if these vessels are qualified for such special conditions;

(c) the number of days at sea for which each vessel would have initially been authorised to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea which each vessel would benefit from in application of point 7.1.

7.4.On the basis of that request, the Commission shall assess whether the conditions referred to in point 7 are complied with and, where applicable, may authorise that Member State to benefit from the system referred to in point 7.1.

8.1.An additional number of days at sea on which a vessel may be authorised by its flag Member State to be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear may be allocated to a Member State by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessations of fishing activities that have taken place between 1 February 2013 and 31 January 2014 either in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 (³⁵) or Regulation (EC) No 744/2008 (³⁶). Permanent cessations resulting from any other circumstances may be considered by the Commission on a case-by-case basis, following a written and duly motivated request from the Member State concerned. Such written request shall identify the vessels concerned and confirm, for each of them, that they shall never return to fishing activities.

8.2.The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using the regulated gear 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 that calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day.

8.3.Points 8.1. and 8.2. shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 3 or 6.4., or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.

8.4.A Member State wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 8.1. shall submit a request to the Commission, by 15 June 2014, with reports in electronic format containing, for the gear grouping and special conditions as laid down in Table I, the details of the calculation based on:

(a) lists of withdrawn vessels with their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

(b) 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 conditions.

8.5.On the basis of such a request by a Member State the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, allocate that Member State a number of days additional to that referred to in point 5.1. for that Member State. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 42(2).

8.6.During the 2014 management period, a Member State may re-allocate those additional days at sea to all or part of the vessels remaining in fleet and qualified for the regulated gears. Additional days stemming from a withdrawn vessel that benefited from a special condition referred to in point 6.1.(a) or (b) may not be allocated to a vessel remaining active that does not benefit from a special condition.

8.7.When the Commission allocates additional days at sea due to a permanent cessation of fishing activities during the 2014 management period, the maximum number of days per Member State and gear shown in Table I shall be adjusted accordingly for the 2014 management period.

9.1.Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear may be allocated to a Member State by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of scientific 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 shall go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 (³⁷) and its implementing rules for national programmes.

9.2.Scientific observers shall be independent from the owner, the master of the vessel and any crew member.

9.3.A Member State wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 9.1. shall submit a description of its enhanced scientific observer coverage programme to the Commission for approval.

9.4.On the basis of that description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, allocate the Member State concerned a number of days additional to that referred to in point 5.1. for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of scientific observers. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 42(2).

9.5.If an enhanced scientific observer coverage programme submitted by a Member State has been approved by the Commission in the past and the Member State concerned wishes to continue its application without changes, it shall inform the Commission of the continuation of that programme four weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies.

CHAPTER IV

Management