1.It shall be prohibited for Union fishing vessels, as well as for any commercial fisheries from shore, to fish for European seabass in ICES divisions 4b and 4c, and in ICES subarea 7. It shall be prohibited to retain, tranship, relocate or land European seabass caught in that area.
2.By way of derogation from paragraph 1, in January 2020 and from 1 April to 31 December 2020, Union fishing vessels in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7h and in waters within 12 nautical miles from baselines under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions 7a and 7g may fish for European seabass, and retain, tranship, relocate or land European seabass caught in that area with the following gear and within the following limits:
(a)using demersal trawls(1), for unavoidable by-catches not exceeding 520 kilogrammes per two months and 5 % of the weight of the total catches of marine organisms on board caught by that vessel per fishing trip;
(b)using seines(2), for unavoidable by-catches not exceeding 520 kilogrammes per two months and 5 % of the weight of the total catches of marine organisms on board caught by that vessel per fishing trip;
(c)using hooks and lines(3), not exceeding 5,7 tonnes per vessel per year;
(d)using fixed gillnets(4), for unavoidable by-catches not exceeding 1,4 tonnes per vessel per year.
The derogations set out in the first subparagraph shall apply to Union fishing vessels that have recorded catches of European seabass over the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 September 2016: in point (c) with recorded catches using hooks and lines, and in point (d) with recorded catches using fixed gillnets. In the case of a replacement of a Union fishing vessel, Member States may allow the derogation to apply to another fishing vessel provided that the number of Union fishing vessels subject to the derogation and their overall fishing capacity do not increase.
3.The catch limits set out in paragraph 2 shall not be transferable between vessels and, where a monthly limit applies, from one month to another. For Union fishing vessels using more than one gear in a single calendar month, the lowest catch limit set out in paragraph 2 for either gear shall apply.
Member States shall report to the Commission all catches of European seabass per type of gear no later than 15 days after the end of each month.
4.France and Spain shall ensure that fishing mortality of seabass stock in ICES divisions 8a and 8b from their commercial and recreational fisheries do not exceed the FMSY point value resulting in 2 533 tonnes of total catches, as required by Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/472.
5.In recreational fisheries, including from shore, in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 6a, 7a to 7k:
(a)from 1 January to 29 February and from 1 to 31 December 2020, only catch-and-release fishing with a rod or a handline for European seabass shall be allowed. During those periods, it shall be prohibited to retain, relocate, tranship or land European seabass caught in that area;
(b)from 1 March to 30 November 2020, not more than two specimens of European seabass may be caught and retained per fisherman per day; the minimum size of European seabass retained shall be 42 cm.
Point (b) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to fixed nets, which may not be used to catch or retain European seabass during the period referred to in that point.
[F16. In recreational fisheries, including from shore, in ICES divisions 8a and 8b, a maximum of two specimens of European seabass may be caught and retained per fisherman per day. The minimum size of European seabass retained shall be 42 cm. This paragraph shall not apply to fixed nets, which may not be used to catch or retain European seabass.]
7.Paragraphs 5 and 6 shall be without prejudice to more stringent national measures on recreational fisheries.
Textual Amendments
All types of demersal trawls (OTB, OTT, PTB, TBB, TBN, TBS and TB).
All types of seines (SSC, SDN, SPR, SV, SB and SX).
All long lines or pole and line or rod and line fisheries (LHP, LHM, LLD, LL, LTL, LX and LLS).
All fixed gillnets and traps (GTR, GNS, GNC, FYK, FPN and FIX).