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FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN CHANNEL SOLE STOCKS IN ICES DIVISION 7e CHAPTER I General provisions 1. Scope 1.1. This Annex shall apply to Union fishing vessels of 10 metres length overall or more carrying on board or deploying beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm and static nets including gillnets, trammel-nets and tangle-nets with mesh size equal to or less than 220 mm in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 509/2007, and present in ICES division 7e.

1.2. Vessels fishing with static nets with mesh size equal to or larger than 120 mm and with track records of less than 300 kg live weight of sole per year during the three previous years, according to their fishing records, shall be exempt from the application of this Annex subject to the following conditions: such vessels caught less than 300 kg live weight of sole during the 2017 management period; such vessels do not tranship any fish at sea to another vessel; by 31 July 2018 and 31 January 2019 each Member State concerned makes a report to the Commission on those vessels' catch records for sole in the three previous years as well as on catches of sole in 2018.

Where any of those conditions is not met, the vessels concerned shall cease to be exempt from the application of this Annex, with immediate effect.

2. Definitions For the purposes of this Annex, the following definitions apply: ‘gear grouping’ means the grouping consisting of the following two gear categories: beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm, and static nets, including gillnets, trammel nets and tangle-nets, with mesh size equal to or less than 220 mm; ‘regulated gear’ means any of the two gear categories belonging to the gear grouping; ‘area’ means ICES division 7e; ‘current management period’ means the period from 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2019.

3. Limitation in activity Without prejudice to Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, each Member State shall ensure that, when carrying on board any regulated gear, Union fishing vessels flying its flag and registered in the Union shall be present within the area for no more than the number of days set out in Chapter III of this Annex. CHAPTER II Authorisations 4. Authorised vessels

4.1 A Member State shall not authorise fishing with regulated gear in the area by any vessel flying its flag which has no record of such fishing activity in the area in the period from 2002 to 2017, excluding the record of fishing activities as a result of transfer of days between fishing vessels, unless it ensures that equivalent capacity, measured in kilowatts, is prevented from fishing in the area.

4.2 However, a vessel with a track record of using a regulated gear may be authorised to use a different fishing gear, provided that the number of days allocated to this latter gear is greater than or equal to the number of days allocated to the regulated gear.

4.3 A vessel flying the flag of a Member State having no quotas in the area shall not be authorised to fish in the area with regulated gear, unless the vessel is allocated a quota after a transfer as permitted in accordance with Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and is allocated days at sea in accordance with point 10 or 11 of this Annex. CHAPTER III Number of days present within the area allocated to Union fishing vessels 5. Maximum number of days

During the current management period, the maximum number of days at sea for which a Member State may authorise a vessel flying its flag to be present within the area having carried on board any regulated gear is shown in Table I. Table I Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by category of regulated gear per year Regulated gear Maximum number of days Beam trawls of mesh size ≥ 80 mm BE 176 FR 188 UK 222 Static nets with mesh size ≤ 220 mm BE 176 FR 191 UK 176 6. Kilowatt day system 6.1. During the current management period, a Member State may manage its fishing effort allocations in accordance with a kilowatt days system. Through that system it may authorise any vessel concerned by any regulated gear as set out in Table I to be present within the area for a maximum number of days which is different from that set out in that Table, provided that the overall amount of kilowatt days corresponding to the regulated gear is respected.

6.2. This overall amount of kilowatt days shall be the sum of all individual fishing efforts allocated to the vessels flying the flag of that Member State and qualified for the regulated gear. Such individual fishing efforts shall be calculated in kilowatt days by multiplying the engine power of each vessel by the number of days at sea it would benefit from, according to Table I, if point 6.1. were not applied.

6.3. A Member State wishing to benefit from the system referred to in point 6.1. shall submit a request to the Commission, for the regulated gear as laid down in Table I, with reports in electronic format containing the details of the calculation based on: the list of vessels authorised to fish by indicating their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power; the number of days at sea for which each vessel would have initially been authorised to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea which each vessel would benefit from in application of point 6.1.

6.4. On the basis of that request, the Commission shall assess whether the conditions referred to in point 6 are complied with and, where applicable, may authorise that Member State to benefit from the system referred to in point 6.1.

7. Allocation of additional days for permanent cessation of fishing activities 7.1. An additional number of days at sea on which a vessel may be authorised by its flag Member State to be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear may be allocated to a Member State by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessations of fishing activities that have taken place during the preceding management period either in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 or with Regulation (EC) No 744/2008. Permanent cessations resulting from any other circumstances may be considered by the Commission on a case-by-case basis, following a written and duly motivated request from the Member State concerned. Such written request shall identify the vessels concerned and confirm, for each of them, that they shall never return to fishing activities.

7.2. The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using a given gear grouping shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using that gear grouping during 2003. The additional number of days at sea shall be then calculated by multiplying the ratio so obtained by the number of days that would have been allocated according to Table I. Any part of a day resulting from that calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day.

7.3. Points 7.1.and 7.2. shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 4.2., or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.

7.4. A Member State wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 7.1. shall submit a request to the Commission, by 15 June of the current management period, with reports in electronic format containing for the gear grouping as laid down in Table I, the details of the calculation based on: lists of withdrawn vessels with their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

the fishing activity deployed by such vessels in 2003 calculated in days at sea according to the grouping of fishing gears.

7.5. On the basis of such a request by a Member State the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, allocate that Member State a number of days additional to that referred to in point 5 for that Member State. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 42(2).

7.6. During the current management period, a Member State may re-allocate those additional days at sea to all or part of the vessels remaining in fleet and qualified for the regulated gears.

7.7. When the Commission allocates additional days at sea due to a permanent cessation of fishing activities during the preceding management period the maximum number of days per Member State and gear shown in Table I shall be adjusted accordingly for the current management period.

8. Allocation of additional days for enhanced scientific observer coverage

8.1. Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear may be allocated between 1 February 2018 and 31 January 2019 to a Member State by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of scientific observer coverage in partnership between scientists and the fishing industry. Such a programme shall focus in particular on levels of discarding and on catch composition and go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 and its implementing rules for national programmes.

8.2. Scientific observers shall be independent from the owner, the master of the fishing vessel and any crew member.

8.3. A Member State wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 8.1. shall submit a description of its enhanced scientific observer coverage programme to the Commission for approval.

8.4. On the basis of that description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may, by means of implementing acts, allocate the Member State concerned a number of days additional to that referred to in point 5 for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of scientific observers. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 42(2).

8.5. If an enhanced scientific observer coverage programme submitted by a Member State has been approved by the Commission in the past and the Member State concerned wishes to continue its application without changes, it shall inform the Commission of the continuation of that programme four weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies. CHAPTER IV Management 9. General obligation Member States shall manage the maximum allowable effort in accordance with Articles 26 to 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

10. Management periods 10.1. A Member State may divide the days present within the area set out in Table I into management periods of durations of one or more calendar months.