Article 6Survivability exemption for catch and by-catch of plaice

1.

The survivability exemption referred to in Article 15(4)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 shall apply in the Union waters of ICES division 3a and subarea 4 to:

(a)

plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) caught with nets (GNS, GTR, GTN, GEN);

(b)

plaice caught with Danish seines;

(c)

plaice caught with bottom trawls (OTB, PTB):

  1. (i)

    with a mesh size of at least 120 mm when targeting flatfish or roundfish in the Union waters of ICES division 3a and subarea 4;

  2. (ii)

    with a mesh size of 90 to 119 mm equipped with Seltra panel with a top panel of 140 mm mesh size (square mesh), 270 mm mesh size (diamond mesh) or 300 mm mesh size (square-mesh), which target flatfish or roundfish in the Union waters of ICES division 3a;

  3. (iii)

    with a mesh size of 80 to 119 mm targeting flatfish or roundfish in the Union waters of ICES subarea 4.

2.

When discarding plaice caught in the cases referred to in paragraph 1, the plaice shall be released immediately.