Council Regulation (EC) No 2270/2004
of 22 December 2004
fixing for 2005 and 2006 the fishing opportunities for Community fishing vessels for certain deep-sea fish stocks
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,
Whereas:
Under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 the Council is to establish the measures necessary to ensure access to waters and resources and the sustainable pursuit of fishing activities taking into account, inter alia, available scientific advice.
Under Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, it is incumbent upon the Council to establish fishing opportunities by fishery or group of fisheries and to allocate them in accordance with prescribed criteria.
The latest scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) concerning certain stocks of fish found in the deep sea indicates that those stocks are harvested unsustainably, and that fishing opportunities for those stocks should be reduced in order to assure their sustainability.
The ICES has further advised that the exploitation rate of orange roughy in ICES Area VII is far too high. Scientific advice further indicates that orange roughy in Area VI is heavily depleted, and areas of vulnerable aggregations of these species have been identified. It is therefore appropriate to prohibit fishing for orange roughy in those areas.
The Community is a contracting party to the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Convention, which has recommended a limitation on the fishing effort deployed to catch certain deep-sea species. That recommendation should therefore be implemented by the Community.
In order to ensure effective management of quotas, the specific conditions under which fishing operations occur should be established.
Scientific advice from ICES concerning most of the deep-sea species indicates that fishing effort should be reduced. In the absence of specific measures limiting the activity of vessels fishing for deep-sea species, it is therefore appropriate to adjust available effort by adjusting the power and capacity of the fishing fleet in accordance with the scientific advice.
In order to ensure the livelihood of Community fishermen, it is important to open these fisheries on 1 January 2005. Given the urgency of the matter, it is imperative to grant an exception to the six-week period referred to in paragraph I(3) of the Protocol on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: