Council Regulation(EC) No 41/2007 of 21 December 2006 fixing for 2007 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (c. 41)

ANNEX II U.K.

ANNEX IIB U.K.

[F1 FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECOVERY OF CERTAIN SOUTHERN HAKE AND NORWAY LOBSTER STOCKS IN ICES ZONES VIIIc AND IXa EXCLUDING THE GULF OF CADIZ] U.K.

1. Scope U.K.

The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to Community vessels of length overall equal to or greater than 10 metres, carrying on board towed and static gears defined in point 3 and present in zones VIIIc and IXa excluding the Gulf of Cadiz. For the purposes of this Annex, a reference to the year 2007 means the period from 1 February 2007 to 31 January 2008.

2. Definition of day present within the area U.K.

For the purpose of this Annex, a day present within an area shall be any continuous period of 24 hours (or part thereof) during which a vessel is present within the geographical area defined in point 1 and absent from port. The time from which the continuous period is measured is at the discretion of the Member State whose flag is flown by the vessel concerned.

3. Fishing gear U.K.

For the purpose of this Annex, the following groupings of fishing gears shall apply:

(a)

Trawls, Danish seines and similar gears of mesh size equal to or larger than 32 mm;

(b)

Gill-nets of mesh size equal to or larger than 60 mm;

(c)

Bottom long-lines.

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Council Regulation (EC) No 1533/2007 of 17 December 2007 amending Regulations (EC) No 2015/2006 and (EC) No 41/2007, as regards fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks.

IMPLEMENTATION OF FISHING EFFORT LIMITATIONS U.K.

4. Vessels concerned by fishing effort limitations U.K.

4.1. A Member State shall not permit fishing with a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 in the area by any of its vessels which have no record of such fishing activity in the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 or 2006 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 regulated area. U.K.

However, a vessel with a track record of using a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3 may be authorised to use a different fishing gear , provided that the number of days allocated to this latter gear is greater than or equal to the number of days allocated to the first gear.

4.2. A vessel flying the flag of a Member State having no quotas in the area defined in point 1 shall not be permitted to fish in that area with a gear belonging to a grouping of fishing gear defined in point 3, unless the vessel is allocated a quota after a transfer as permitted according to the Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 and is allocated days at sea according to point 13 of this Annex. U.K.

5. Limitations in activity U.K.

Each Member State shall ensure that, when carrying on board any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3, fishing vessels flying its flag and registered in the Community shall be present within the area for no more than the number of days specified in point 7.

6. Exceptions U.K.

A Member State shall not count against the days allocated to any of its vessels under this Annex either any days when the vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it was assisting another vessel in need of emergency aid or any days when a vessel has been present within the area but unable to fish because it is transporting an injured person for emergency medical aid. The Member State shall provide justification to the Commission within one month of any decisions taken on this basis with associated evidence of the emergency from the competent authorities.

NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT WITHIN THE AREA ALLOCATED TO FISHING VESSELS U.K.

7. Maximum number of days U.K.

7.1. For the purposes of fixing the maximum number of days a fishing vessel may be present within the area, the following special conditions shall apply in accordance with Table I: U.K.

(a)

The total landings of hake in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 made by the vessel, or by the vessel or vessels using similar gears and qualifying for this special condition, mutatis mutandis, that it has replaced in accordance with Community law, shall represent less than 5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight consigned in the Community logbook, and;

(b)

The total landings of Norway lobster in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 made by the vessel, or by the vessel or vessels using similar gears and qualifying for this special condition, mutatis mutandis, that it has replaced in accordance with Community law, shall represent less than 2,5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight consigned in the Community logbook.

7.2. The maximum number of days per year for which a vessel may be present within the area having carried on board any one of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3 is shown in Table I. U.K.

8. Management periods U.K.

8.1. A Member State may divide the days present within the area given in Table I into management periods of durations of one or more calendar months. U.K.

8.2. The number of days 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. U.K.

8.3. In any given management period a vessel may undertake non-fishing related activities, without that time being counted against its days allocated under point 7, provided that the vessel first notifies its flag Member State of its intention to do so, the nature of its activity and that it surrenders its fishing licence for this time. Such vessels shall not carry any fishing gear or fish on board during that time. U.K.

9. Allocation of additional days for permanent cessation of fishing activities U.K.

[F1 9.1. An additional number of days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying on board any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be allocated to Member States by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessation of fishing activities that have taken place since 1 January 2004 either in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 or resulting from other circumstances duly motivated by Member States. Any vessels that can be shown to have been definitively withdrawn from the area may also be considered. The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using the gear in question in the relevant area shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using that gear during the same year. The additional number of days shall be then calculated by multiplying the ratio so obtained by the number of days originally allocated. Any part of a day resulting from this calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day. This point shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 4.1 or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.] U.K.

9.1.a. Member States may re-allocate the additional number of days to any vessel or group of vessels using the conversion mechanism foreseen in point 12. U.K.

9.2. Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 9.1. shall submit a request to the Commission with reports containing the details of the permanent cessation of fishing activities in question. U.K.

9.3. On the basis of such a request the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.2. for that Member State in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. U.K.

Any additional number of days resulting from permanent cessation of activity previously allocated by the Commission remains allocated in 2007.

10. Allocation of additional days for enhanced observer coverage U.K.

10.1. Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying onboard any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be allocated between 1 February 2007 and 31 January 2008 to Member States by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of 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 go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1543/2000, Regulation (EC) No 1639/2001 and Regulation (EC) No 1581/2004 for the minimum and extended programme levels. U.K.

10.2. Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 10.1 shall submit a description of their enhanced observer coverage programme to the Commission. U.K.

10.3. On the basis of this description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 7.2 for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of observers in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. U.K.

11. Special conditions for the allocation of days U.K.

11.1. If a vessel has received an unlimited number of days resulting from compliance with the special conditions listed in points 7.1(a) and 7.1(b), the vessel's landings in 2007 shall not exceed 5 tonnes live weight of hake and 2,5 tonnes live weight of Norway lobster. U.K.

11.2. The vessel shall not tranship any fish at sea to another vessel. U.K.

11.3. When either of these 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 conditions. U.K.

Table I — Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by fishing gear per year
Gear point 3	Special conditions point 7	DenominationOnly the gear groupings as defined in point 3 and the special conditions as defined in point 7 are used.	Maximum number of days
3.a		Bottom trawls of mesh size ≥32 mm	216
3.b.		Gill-nets of mesh size ≥60 mm	216
3.c		Bottom long-lines	216
3.a	7.1(a) and 7.1(b)	Bottom trawls of mesh size ≥32 mm	Unlimited
3.b	7.1(a)	Gill-nets of mesh size ≥60 mm	Unlimited
3.c	7.1(a)	Bottom long-lines	Unlimited

EXCHANGES OF FISHING EFFORT ALLOCATIONS U.K.

12. Transfer of days between vessels flying the flag of a member state U.K.

12.1. A Member State may permit any fishing vessel flying its flag to transfer days present within the area for which it is eligible to another vessel flying its flag within the area provided that the product of the days received by a vessel multiplied by its engine in kilowatts (kilowatt days) is equal to or less than the product of the days transferred by the donor vessel and the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. The engine power in kilowatts of the vessels shall be that recorded for each vessel in the Community fishing fleet register. U.K.

12.2. The total number of days present within the area transferred under point 12.1. multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of the donor vessel shall not be higher than the donor vessel's average annual days track record in the area as verified by the Community logbook in the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 multiplied by the engine power in kilowatts of that vessel. U.K.

12.3. The transfer of days as described in point 12.1. shall be permitted only between vessels operating within the same gear group and during the same management period. U.K.

12.4. Transfer of days is only permitted for vessels benefiting from an allocation of fishing days without special condition, as laid down in point 7.1. U.K.

12.5. On request from the Commission, Member States shall provide information on the transfers that have taken place. Formats of spreadsheet for the collection and transmission of this information may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. U.K.

13. Transfer of days between fishing vessels flying the flag of different member states U.K.

Member States may permit transfer of days present within the area for the same management period and within the area between any fishing vessels flying their flags provided the same provisions as laid down in points 5.1, 5.2, 6 and 12. Where Member States decide to authorize such a transfer, they shall notify the Commission, before such transfers take place, the details of the transfer, including the number of days, the fishing effort and, where applicable, the fishing quotas relating thereto.

USE OF FISHING GEAR U.K.

14. Notification of fishing gear U.K.

14.1. Before the first day of each management period the master of a vessel or his representative shall notify to the authorities of the flag Member State which gear or gears he intends to use during the forthcoming management period. Until such notification is provided the vessel shall not be entitled to fish within the area referred to in point 1 with any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3. U.K.

14.2. Point 14.1 shall not apply to fishing vessels authorised by a Member State to use only one of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 3. U.K.

15. Combined used of regulated and unregulated fishing gear U.K.

A vessel wishing to combine the use of one or more of the fishing gear referred to in point 3 (regulated gears) with any other grouping of fishing gear not referred to in point 3 (unregulated gears) will not be restricted in their use of the unregulated gear. Such vessels must prenotify when the regulated gear is to be used. When no such notification has been given, none of the fishing gear referred to in point 3 may be carried on board. Such vessels must be authorised and equipped to undertake the alternative fishing activity with the unregulated gear.

TRANSIT U.K.

16. Transit U.K.

A vessel is allowed to transit across the area provided that it has no fishing permit to operate in the area or it has first notified its authorities of its intention to do so. While that vessel is within the area any fishing gears carried on board must be lashed and stowed in accordance with conditions laid down in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

MONITORING, INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE U.K.

[F1 17. Fishing effort messages U.K.

Articles 19b, 19c, 19d, 19e and 19k of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 shall apply to vessels carrying on board the groupings of fishing gear defined in point 3 of this Annex and operating in the area defined in point 1 of this Annex. Vessels equipped with vessel monitoring systems in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 shall be excluded from the hailing requirements set out in Article 19c of Regulation (EC) No 2847/93.]

18. Recording of relevant data U.K.

Member States shall ensure that the following data received pursuant to Articles 8, 10(1) and 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2244/2003 are recorded in a computer-readable form:

(a)

entry into, and exit from port;

(b)

each entry into, and exit from maritime areas where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply.

19. Cross-checks U.K.

Member States shall verify the submission of logbooks and relevant information recorded in the logbook by using VMS data. Such cross-checks shall be recorded and made available to the Commission on request.

REPORTING OBLIGATIONS U.K.

20. Collection of relevant data U.K.

Member States, on the basis of information used for the management of fishing days present within the area as set out in this Annex, shall collect for each annual quarter the information about total fishing effort deployed within the area for towed gears and static gears and effort deployed by vessels using different types of gear in the area concerned by this Annex.

21. Communication of relevant data U.K.

21.1. On request of the Commission, Members States shall make available to the Commission a spreadsheet with the data referred to in point 20 in the format specified in Tables II and III by sending it to the appropriate electronic mailbox address, which shall be communicated to the Member States by the Commission. U.K.

21.2. A new format of spreadsheet for making the data referred to in point 20 available to the Commission may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. U.K.

Table II
Reporting format
Country	CFR	External marking	Length of management period	Area fished	Gear(s) notified				Special condition applying to notified gear(s)				Days eligible using notified gear(s)				Days spent with notified gear(s)				Transfer of days
					No1	No2	No3	…	No1	No2	No3	…	No1	No2	No3	…	No1	No2	No3	…
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(6)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(7)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(8)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(10)

Table III
Data format
a Relevant information for transmission of data by fixed-length formatting.
Name of field	Maximum number of characters/digits	AlignmentaL(eft)/R(ight)	Definition and Comments
(1) Country	3	n/r	Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) in which vessel is registered for fishing under Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002. In the case of the donor, it is always the reporting country
(2) CFR	12	n/r	Community Fleet Register number Unique identification number of a fishing vessel. Member State (Alpha-3 ISO code) followed by an identifying series (9 characters). Where a series has fewer than 9 characters additional zeros must be inserted on the left hand side.
(3) External marking	14	L	Under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1381/87
(4) Length of management period	2	L	Length of the management period measured in months.
(5) Area fished	1	L	Non relevant information in the case of Annex IIB.
(6) gear(s) notified	5	L	Indication of gear grouping notified in accordance with point 3 of Annex IIB (e.g a, b or c)
(7) Special condition applying to notified gear(s)	2	L	Indication of which, if any, of the special condition a-b referred to in point 7.1 of Annex IIB that apply.
(8) Days eligible using notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days for which the vessel is eligible under Annex IIB for the choice of gears and length of management period notified
(9) Days spent with notified gear(s)	3	L	Number of days the vessel actually spent present within the area and using a gear corresponding to gear notified during the notified management period according to Annex IIB.
(10) Transfers of days	4	L	For days transferred indicate ‘– number of days transferred’ and for days received indicate ‘+ number of days transferred’