THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006, and in particular Article 51(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Article 4 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 724/2010 provides for a catch trigger level of 15 % by weight of juveniles of cod, haddock, saithe and whiting or, if the quantity of cod in the sample exceeds 75 % as compared to the four species in a haul, for a catch trigger level of 10 % by weight of juveniles of those species.
(2)
In accordance with Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 724/2010 a sample is to be taken when it is estimated that at least 300 kg of cod, haddock, saithe and whiting are present in one haul.
(3)
As stated at the Fisheries Consultations for 2011 held on 4 December 2010 between the Union and Norway, it is appropriate for the Union to amend the main parameters of the real-time closure system in the North Sea and Skagerrak, i.e. the catch trigger level and the minimum estimated quantity of fish concerned in one haul, in order to render that system more effective.
(4)
Regulation (EU) No 724/2010 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(5)
The Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture has delivered no opinion on the measures provided for in this Regulation,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: