Article 1

In Regulation (EU) 2015/104, the following Article is inserted:

Article 9aMeasures concerning sea bass1.

It shall be prohibited for Union vessels to fish, retain on board, relocate, tranship or land quantities exceeding the limits set out in paragraph 2 of sea bass caught in the following areas:

(a)

ICES divisions IVb, IVc, VIId, VIIe, VIIf and VIIh;

(b)

waters within 12 nautical miles from baseline under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions VIIa and VIIg.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, the following catch limits shall apply:

Gear category and code As per FAO alpha 3 fishing gear codes.	Maximum catch of sea bass permitted per vessel per calendar month (in kg)
Mid-water or pelagic trawls, including OTM and PTM	1 500
All types of demersal trawls including Danish/Scottish seines, including OTB, OTT, PTB, TBB, SSC, SDN, SPR, SV, SB, SX, TBN, TBS and TB	1 800
All GN, all drift net and fixed (trammel) net fisheries, including GTR, GNS, GND, FYK, FPN and FIX	1 000
All long lines or pole and line or rod and line fisheries, including LHP, LHM, LLD, LL, LTL, LX and LLS	1 300
purse seines, gear codes PS and LA	3 000

For Union vessels using more than one gear in a single calendar month, the lowest catch limit set in paragraph 2 for either gear shall apply.

The catch limits set in paragraph 2 shall not be transferable from one month to another or between vessels.

It shall be prohibited for Union vessels to retain on board, tranship, relocate or land sea bass caught in ICES divisions VIIb, VIIc, VIIj and VIIk, as well as in the waters of ICES divisions VIIa and VIIg that are more than 12 nautical miles from the baseline under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Member States shall report to the Commission catches of sea bass per type of gear not later than 20 days after the end of each month.