THE COMMISSION THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 850/98 of 30 March 1998 for the conservation of fishery resources through technical measures for the protection of juveniles of marine organisms, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 973/2001, and in particular Article 45(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
In November 2000, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) indicated that the stock of hake in ICES sub-areas III, IV, V, VI and VII and ICES division VIII a, b, d, e is at serious risk of collapse.
(2)
The majority of the stock inhabits ICES sub-areas V, VI, and VII and ICES divisions VIII a, b, d, e.
(3)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1162/2001 of 14 June 2001 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of hake in ICES sub-areas III, IV, V, VI and VII and ICES divisions VIII a, b, d, e and associated conditions for the control of activities of fishing vessels lays down a number of additional technical measures relevant to the recovery of this stock.
(4)
Those technical measures will remain in force until 1 March 2002. However, by that date the revision of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 will not have been achieved. An interruption of the application of the measures would cause serious harm to the stock of hake.
(5)
Therefore, immediate action is required to ensure that the measures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1162/2001 continue to apply until the revision of Regulation (EC) No 850/98 is adopted by the Council.
(6)
Fishing with beam trawls of mesh size less than 100 mm within areas otherwise restricted to fishing with other towed gears of mesh size of 100 mm or greater is unlikely to imperil the conservation of the hake stock since such fishing with beam trawls incurs a very low level of hake taken as by-catches. It is necessary, however, to ensure that low by-catch levels are not exceeded and to limit the time period and geographical area in which such fishing may take place.
(7)
Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1162/2001 provides a derogation which is justified by the fact that the limit on the catches of hake would cause serious economic problems for small fishing vessels working on a daily basis. The derogation has negligible consequences regarding the conservation and recovery of the hake stock. It should therefore be maintained.
(8)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: