Council Regulation (EU) No 43/2012Show full title

CHAPTER III NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT WITHIN THE AREA ALLOCATED TO EU VESSELS

5. Maximum number of days

5.1. During the 2012 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. Special conditions for the allocation of days

6.1. For the purposes of fixing the maximum number of days at sea an EU 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 2009 or 2010 made by the vessel concerned must represent less than 5 tonnes according to the landings in live weight; and

(b)

the total landings of Norway lobster in the year 2009 or 2010 made by the vessel concerned must 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 2012 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.

Table I
Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by fishing gear per year
Special condition	Regulated gear	Maximum number of days
	Bottom trawls, Danish seines and similar trawls of mesh size ≥ 32 mm, gill-nets of mesh size ≥ 60 mm and bottom longlines	ES	150
		FR	149
		PT	155
6.1.(a) and 6.1.(b)	Bottom trawls, Danish seines and similar trawls of mesh size ≥ 32 mm, gill-nets of mesh size ≥ 60 mm and bottom longlines	Unlimited

7. Kilowatt day system

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 gear grouping 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 EU fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

(b)

track record of 2009 and 2010 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. Allocation of additional days for permanent cessation of fishing activities

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 2011 and 31 January 2012 either in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006(1) or Regulation (EC) No 744/2008(2). 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 a given gear grouping shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using that gear grouping 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 2012, 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 EU 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 14(2).

8.6. During the 2012 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 2012 management period, the maximum number of days per Member State and gear shown in Table I shall be adjusted accordingly for the 2013 management period.

9. Allocation of additional days for enhanced scientific observer coverage

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 go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 199/2008(3) 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 14(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 4 weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies.

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 of 27 July 2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (OJ L 223, 15.8.2006, p. 1).

(2)

Council Regulation (EC) No 744/2008 of 24 July 2008 instituting a temporary specific action aiming to promote the restructuring of the European Community fishing fleets affected by the economic crisis (OJ L 202, 31.7.2008, p. 1).

(3)

Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 of 25 February 2008 concerning the establishment of a Community framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the Common Fisheries Policy (OJ L 60, 5.3.2008, p. 1).