1.The carrying on board or the use of any trawl, Danish seine, beam trawl or similar towed net having a mesh size of less than 120 mm shall be prohibited in the Skagerrak.
2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the following trawls may be used:
(a)trawls with a cod end of a mesh size of at least 90 mm, provided they are equipped with a seltra panel or a sorting grid with no more than 35 mm bar spacing;
(b)trawls with a cod end of at least 70 mm mesh size (square mesh) equipped with a sorting grid with no more than 35 mm bar spacing;
(c)trawls of minimum mesh sizes of less than 70 mm when fishing for pelagic or industrial species, provided the catch contains more than 80 % of one or more pelagic or industrial species;
(d)trawls with a cod end of at least 35 mm mesh size when fishing for Northern prawn, provided the trawl is equipped with a sorting grid with a maximum bar spacing of 19 mm.
3.A fish retention device may be used when fishing for Northern prawn in accordance with paragraph 2(d), provided there are adequate fishing opportunities to cover by-catch and that the retention device is:
(a)constructed with a top panel of a minimum mesh size of 120 mm square mesh;
(b)at least 3 metres long; and
(c)at least as wide as the width of the sorting grid.