Legal provisions of COM(2020)205 - Amending Regulation 2019/1838 on fishing opportunities for 2020 in the Baltic Sea, and Regulation 2020/123 on fishing opportunities in 2020 in Union and non-Union waters - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2020)205 - Amending Regulation 2019/1838 on fishing opportunities for 2020 in the Baltic Sea, and Regulation 2020/123 on fishing ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2020)205  |
| date | May 20, 2020 |
Contents
Article 1 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2019/1838
Article 2 - Amendment of Regulation (EU) 2020/123
(1) Article 14 is replaced by the following:
“Article 14
Remedial measures for cod in the North Sea
1. The closed areas to fishing, except with pelagic gear (purse seines and trawls), and the periods during which the closures apply are set out in Annex IV.
2. Vessels fishing with bottom trawls and seines with minimum mesh size of at least 70 mm, gillnets and longlines 12 shall be prohibited from fishing in Union waters of ICES divisions 4a, North of latitude 58° 30'00 N and South of latitude 61° 30’00 N and in Union waters of ICES divisions 3a.20 (Skagerrak), 4a and 4b, North of latitude 57° 00’00 N and East of latitude 005 00’.00 E.
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, fishing vessels referred to in paragraph 2 may fish in the areas referred to in paragraph 1 provided that they fulfil at least one of the following criteria:
(a)the percentage of cod catches does not exceed 5 % of the total catches per fishing trip;
(b) a regulated and highly selective bottom trawl or seine is used, which results, according to a scientific study, in at least a 50 % reduction of cod catches compared to vessels fishing with a 120 mm mesh-size gear. Such studies may be evaluated by STECF. If on the basis of a negative evaluation by STECF, these gears can no longer be considered as valid for use in the areas defined in paragraph 2;
(c)for vessels operating with bottom trawls and seines with mesh sizes equal to or larger than 100 mm [TR1], the following highly selective gears are utilised:
–Belly trawls with a minimum belly mesh size of 600mm;
–Raised fishing line (0.6 m);
–Horizontal separating panel with large mesh escape panel;
(d)for vessel operating with bottom trawls and seines with mesh sizes equal to or larger than 70 mm and less than 100 mm TR2, the following highly selective gears are utilised:
–horizontal sorting grid with maximum 50 mm bar spacing separating flatfish and roundfish, with an unblocked fish outlet for roundfish;
–Seltra panel with 300 mm square-mesh size;
–sorting grid with maximum 35 mm bar spacing, with an unblocked fish outlet;
(e)vessels are subject to a national cod avoidance plan that is designed to deliver cod catches that are at least 50% lower than 2019 levels through spatial or technical measures, or a combination thereof. Such plans should be assessed no later than two months following implementation, by STECF in the case of EU Member States, and by their relevant national scientific body for third countries and where deemed necessary, further revised if such assessments consider that the objective to reduce cod catches by 50% will not be achieved;
(f) remote electronic equipment is installed in accordance with Article 15(13) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 in order to fully document fisheries activities.
4. Vessels referred to in paragraph 3 of this article shall be subject to enhanced monitoring, control and surveillance and shall be issued with a fishing authorisation in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The conditions specified in paragraph 2(a) to (e) of this article shall be monitored and verified through a scientific observer scheme, or inspections at sea with last haul analysis.”;
(2) Article 16(1) is amended as follows:
the following point (o) is inserted:
“(o) splendid alfonsino (Beryx splendens) in NAFO subarea 6.";
(3) Article 27 is replaced by the following:
“Article 27
Drifting FADs and supply vessels
1. A purse seiner shall not deploy more than 300 active drifting FADs at any time.
2. The number of instrumented buoys that may be acquired annually for each purse seine vessel is set at no more than 500. No purse seine vessel shall have more than 500 instrumented buoys (buoy in stock and operational buoy) at any time.
3. The number of supply vessels shall be no more than two supply vessels in support of not less than five purse seiners, all flying the flag of the same Member State. This provision shall not apply to Member States using only one supply vessel.
4. A single purse seiner shall not be supported by more than one single supply vessel of the same flag Member State at any time.
5. The Union shall not register new or additional supply vessels in the IOTC record of authorised vessels.”;
(4) Article 46 is replaced by the following:
“Article 46
Limits to bottom fishing
“Member States shall ensure that vessels flying their flag that are fishing under the SIOFA Agreement Area:
(a)limit their annual bottom fishing effort and catch to their average annual level for those years where their vessels were active in the Area, over a representative period for which data declared to the Commission exists;
(b)do not expand the spatial distribution of bottom fishing effort, excluding line and trap methods, beyond areas fished in recent years;
(c)are not authorised to fish in the interim protected areas of Atlantis Bank, Coral, Fools Flat, Middle of What, Walter’s Shoal, as defined in Annex IK, except with line and traps methods and on condition of having a scientific observer on board at all times while fishing in those areas.”;
(5) Annexes IA, ID, IH, and V are amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 3
It shall apply from 1 January 2020.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.