FantasticSearch

FISHING EFFORT FOR FISHING 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 as well as static nets, including gillnets, trammel nets and tangle nets, with mesh size equal to or less than 220 mm in accordance with Article 12(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/472, and present in ICES division 7e.

1.2. Fishing vessels fishing with static nets with mesh size equal to or greater than 120 mm and with track records of less than 300 kg live weight of sole per year during the 3 previous years, according to their fishing records, shall be exempt from the application of this Annex subject to the following conditions:

(a) such fishing vessels caught less than 300 kg live weight of sole during the 2023 management period;

(b) such fishing vessels do not tranship any fish at sea to another vessel;

(c) by 31 July 2025 and by 31 January 2026 each Member State concerned submits a report to the Commission on those fishing vessels’ catch records for sole in the 3 previous years as well as on catches of sole in 2025. Where any of those conditions is not met, the fishing 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:

(a) ‘gear grouping’ means the grouping consisting of the following two gear categories:

(i) beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm; and (ii) static nets, including gillnets, trammel nets and tangle nets, with mesh size equal to or less than 220 mm;

(b) ‘regulated gear’ means any of the two gear categories belonging to the gear grouping;

(c) ‘the area’ means ICES division 7e;

(d) ‘current management period’ means the period from 1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026.

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 are 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 FISHING VESSELS 4.1. A Member State shall not authorise fishing with regulated gear in the area by any fishing vessel flying its flag which has no record of such fishing activity in the area in the period from 2003 to 2023, excluding the record of fishing activities as a result of transfer of days between fishing vessels, unless it ensures that the equivalent capacity, measured in kilowatts, is prevented from fishing in the area.

4.2. However, a fishing 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 the different fishing gear is equal to or greater than the number of days allocated to the regulated gear.

4.3. A fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State which has no quotas in the area shall not be authorised to fish in the area with regulated gear unless the fishing vessel is allocated a quota following a transfer carried out 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 fishing vessel flying its flag to be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear is set out in Table I.

6. KILOWATT DAYS SYSTEM

6.1. During the current management period, a Member State may manage its fishing effort allocations in accordance with a kilowatt day system. Through that system, it may authorise any fishing vessel concerned by any regulated gear set out in Table I to be present within the area for a maximum number of days that is different from the number set out in that table, provided that the overall amount of kilowatt days corresponding to the regulated gear is respected.

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

6.3. Any 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 set out in Table I, with reports in electronic format containing the details of the calculation based on:

(a) the list of fishing vessels authorised to fish by indicating their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

(b) the number of days at sea for which each fishing vessel would have initially been authorised to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea from which each fishing vessel would benefit 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 that is the case, may authorise the Member State concerned 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 fishing 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 in accordance with either Article 34 of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council () or with Council Regulation (EC) No 744/2008 (). The Commission may consider permanent cessations resulting from any other circumstances on a case by case basis, following a written and duly reasoned request from the Member State concerned. Such a request shall identify the fishing vessels concerned and confirm, for each of them, that they shall never resume fishing activities.

7.2. The effort expended in 2003, measured in kilowatt days, of the withdrawn fishing vessels using a given gear grouping shall be divided by the effort expended by all fishing vessels using that gear grouping in 2003. The additional number of days at sea shall be 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 fishing 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 2025 with reports in electronic format containing, for the gear grouping as set out in Table I, the details of the calculation based on:

(a) lists of withdrawn fishing vessels with their Union fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power;

(b) the fishing activity deployed by such fishing vessels in 2003 calculated in days at sea according to the grouping of fishing gear.

7.5. During the current management period, a Member State may reallocate any additionally granted days at sea to all or part of the fishing vessels remaining in its fleet and qualified for the regulated gear.

7.6. 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 set out 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 fishing vessel may be present within the area when carrying on board any regulated gear may be allocated between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026 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 laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/1004 of the European Parliament and of the Council () and its implementing rules concerning 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.