Commission Decision of 6 November 2008 adopting a multiannual Community programme pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 establishing a Community framework for the collection, management and use of data in the fisheries sector and support for scientific advice regarding the common fisheries policy (2008/949/EC) (repealed) (c. 949)

ANNEX MULTIANNUAL COMMUNITY PROGRAMME

CHAPTER III MODULE OF EVALUATION OF THE FISHING SECTOR

B. Collection of biological variables

B1. Metier-related variables

1. Variables

1. Sampling must be performed in order to evaluate the quarterly length distribution of species in the catches, and the quarterly volume of discards. Data shall be collected by metier referred to as level 6 of the matrix defined in Appendix IV (1 to 5) and for the stocks listed in Appendix VII.

2. Where relevant additional biological sampling programmes of the unsorted landings have to be carried out in order to estimate:

(a)

the share of the various stocks in these landings for herring in the Skagerrak IIIA-N, Kattegat IIIa-S, and Eastern North Sea separately and salmon in the Baltic Sea;

(b)

the share of the various species for those group of species that are internationally assessed, e.g. megrims, anglerfishes and elasmobranches;

2. Disaggregation level

1. In order to optimise the sampling programmes, the metiers defined in Appendix IV (1 to 5) may be merged. When metiers are merged (vertical merging), statistical evidence shall be brought regarding the homogeneity of the combined metiers. Merging of neighbouring cells corresponding to fleet segments of the vessels (horizontal merging) shall be supported by statistical evidence. Such horizontal merging shall be done primarily by clustering neighbouring vessel LOA classes, independently of the dominant fishing techniques, when appropriate to distinguish different exploitation patterns. Regional agreement on mergers shall be sought at the relevant regional coordination meeting and endorsed by STECF.

2. At national level, one metier defined at level 6 of the matrix in Appendix IV (1 to 5) may be further disaggregated into several more precise strata, i.e. distinguishing different target species. Such further stratification shall be done respecting the two following principles:

(a)

the strata defined at national level do not overlap the metiers defined in Appendix IV (1 to 5);

(b)

the strata defined at national level must, in their entirety comprise of all the fishing trips of the metier defined at level 6.

3. The spatial units for metier sampling are defined by level 3 of Appendix I for all the regions with the following exceptions:

(a)

the Baltic Sea (ICES areas III b-d), Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, where the resolution shall be level 4;

(b)

Regional Fisheries Management Organisations units, providing they are metier-based (in the absence of such definitions, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations shall proceed to appropriate mergers).

4. For the purpose of collection and aggregation of data, spatial sampling units may be clustered by regions as referred to in Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 665/2008(1) after agreement by the relevant regional coordination meetings.

(5) For parameters referred to in Chapter III section B/B1 1. (2), data shall be provided quarterly and be consistent with the fleet fishing activity matrix described in Appendix IV (1 to 5).

3. Sampling strategy

1. For the landings:

(a)

The Member State on whose territory the first sale take place, shall be responsible for ensuring that biological sampling occurs according to the standards defined in this Community Programme. If necessary, Member States shall cooperate with the authorities of non EU third countries to set up biological sampling programmes for the landings carried out by vessels flying the third country's flag.

(b)

For sampling purpose, only the major metiers need be considered. In order to identify the metiers to be sampled, the following ranking system shall be used at level 6 of the matrix in Appendix IV (1 to 5) on a national basis by Member States using as reference the average values of the two previous years and:

• The metier cells shall first be ranked according to their share in the total commercial landings. The shares are then to be cumulated, starting with the largest, until a cut-off level of 90 % is reached. All metiers belonging to the top 90 % shall be selected for sampling,

• The exercise shall then be repeated according to the total value of the commercial landings and repeated a third time according to the total effort in days-at-sea. The metiers in the top 90 % not belonging to the previous top 90 % shall be added to the selection,

• STECF may add to the selection the metiers not picked up by the ranking system but of special importance in terms of management.

(c)

The sampling unit shall be the fishing trip and the number of fishing trips to be sampled shall ensure good coverage of the metier.

(d)

Precision values and ranking system are referenced at the same level as the sampling programmes, i.e. at the national metier level for data that are collected through national programmes and at regional metier level for data that are collected through regionally coordinated sampling programmes.

(e)

The sampling intensity shall be proportionate to the relative effort and variability in the catches of that metier. The minimum number of fishing trips to be sampled shall never be less than one fishing trip per month during the fishing season for fishing trips of less than two weeks and one fishing trip per quarter otherwise.

(f)

When sampling a fishing trip, the species shall be sampled concurrently as follows:

• Each species within a region as defined in Appendix II, shall be classified within a group according to the following rules:

  — Group 1

  :

  Species that drive the international management process including species under EU management plans or EU recovery plans or EU long term multiannual plans or EU action plans for conservation and management based on Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy(2),

  — Group 2

  :

  Other internationally regulated species and major non-internationally regulated by-catch species,

  — Group 3

  :

  All other by-catch (fish and shellfish) species. The list of Group 3 species shall be established at the regional level by the relevant regional coordination meeting and agreed by STECF.

(g)

Allocation of species to Group 1 and 2 is specified in Appendix VII. The choice of the sampling scheme shall depend on the diversity of species to sample and the operational conditions under which sampling takes place. The sampling design per metier must consider both the periodicity of the sampling events and the sampling scheme to apply. Possible sampling schemes, as described in the following table, comprise:

— Scheme 1

:

comprehensive sampling of all species,

— Scheme 2

:

within each time stratum, the sampling events are split in two parts. One part of the sampling events (x %) considers sampling of all species on shore whereas the other part of the sampling events (100-x %) considers only sampling of all Group 1 species,

— Scheme 3

:

within each time stratum, the sampling events are split in two parts. One part of the sampling events (x %) considers sampling of all Group 1 and Group 2 species on shore, whereas the other part of the sampling events (100-x %) considers only sampling of Group 1 species. In this scheme, Group 3 species have to be sampled at sea.

Table 1

Summary of the schemes to be used for concurrent sampling.

Sampling scheme	Frequency	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Scheme 1	Every sampling event
Scheme 2	x % of sampling events
	(100-x) % of sampling events
Scheme 3	x % of sampling events			Sampling at sea
	(100-x) % of sampling events

(h)

For any given sample, the sampling scheme shall be recorded (Table 1) along with information on how complete the sampling is:

• When sampling a species, the number of individuals measured must ensure quality and accuracy of resultant length frequency. The number of length classes within a sample may be estimated from the approximate length range within it and, from this, the number of fish measured shall lie between 3 × number of length classes and 5 × number of length classes as a first approximation, in the absence of any statistical optimisation of the sampling design.

(i)

Other sampling procedures could be used on the condition that there is scientific evidence showing that these procedures will achieve the same objectives as the ones described in point 3(1)(g).

(j)

A summary of the sampling protocols carried out by Member States shall be made available to STECF through the national programmes for each metier sampled.

2. For the discards:

(a)

The ranking system referred to in Chapter III section B/B1 3 (1) (b), shall be used to select the metiers in order to estimate discards. In any case, where discards of a given metier are estimated to exceed 10 % of the total volume of catches and this metier is not picked up by the ranking system this metier shall be sampled.

(b)

The sampling unit shall be the fishing trip and the number of fishing trips to be sampled shall ensure good coverage of the metier.

(c)

Precision values and the ranking system are referenced at the same level as the sampling programmes, i.e. at the national metier level for data that are collected through national programmes and at regional metier level for data that are collected through regionally coordinated sampling programmes.

(d)

The sampling intensity shall be proportionate to the relative effort and/or the variability in catches of the metier. The minimum number of fishing trips to be sampled shall not be less than two fishing trips per quarter.

(e)

Discards will be monitored for the Group 1, 2 and 3 species, defined in Chapter III section B/B1/3. 1 (f), to estimate the quarterly average weight of discards. Furthermore:

• Discards must be the subject of a quarterly estimate of the length distributions when they represent on an annual basis, either more than 10 % of the total catches by weight or more than 15 % of the catches in numbers for the Group 1 and Group 2 species,

• When discards take place for species length ranges which are not represented in the landings, age-reading must take place in accordance with the rules set out in Appendix VII.

(f)

Where relevant, pilot surveys as referred to in Chapter II B (1) shall be carried out.

(g)

A summary of the sampling protocols carried out by Member States shall be made available to STECF through the national programmes for each metier sampled.

3. For the recreational fisheries:

(a)

For the recreational fisheries targeting the species listed in Appendix IV (1 to 5), Member States shall evaluate the quarterly weight of the catches.

(b)

Where relevant, pilot surveys as referred to in Chapter II B (1) shall be carried out to estimate the importance of the recreational fisheries mentioned in point 3(3)(a).

4. Precision levels

1. For the landings:

(a)

The precision level 2 shall be targeted at the stock level for both Group 1 and Group 2 species. If necessary, specific stock-based samples shall be added if metier-based sampling fails to provide the appropriate precision for length distributions at the stock level.

2. For the discards:

(a)

Data related to quarterly estimates of discards length and age composition for Group 1 and Group 2 species must lead to a precision of level 1.

(b)

Weight estimates of Group 1, 2 and 3 species must lead to a precision of level 1.

3. For the recreational fisheries:

(a)

Data related to annual estimates of the catches in volumes must lead to a precision of level 1.

5. Exemption rules

1. If Member States can not reach levels of precision referred to in Chapter III section B/B1/4 2 (a) and (b) and 3(a), or only at excessive costs, they can obtain, based on STECF recommendation, derogation from the Commission to reduce the precision level, sampling frequency or to implement a pilot survey provided this request is fully documented and scientifically proven.

B2. Stock-related variables

1. Variables

1. For stocks listed in Appendix VII, the following variables have to be collected:

(a)

individual information on age;

(b)

individual information on length;

(c)

individual information on weight;

(d)

individual information on sex;

(e)

individual information on maturity;

(f)

individual information on fecundity;

using the sampling scheme provided in this Appendix VII.

2. The collection of all individual information referred to in paragraph (1) shall be associated with the corresponding information on space and time stratum.

3. For wild salmon stocks in the index rivers, as defined by ICES, running into the Baltic Sea III b-d, the following variables have to be collected:

(a)

information on abundance of smolt;

(b)

information on abundance of parr;

(c)

information on number of ascending individuals.

2. Disaggregation level

1. The necessary disaggregation levels as well as the collection periodicity for all variables and the sampling intensities for age are specified in Appendix VII. For sampling strategies and sampling intensities, the rules established in Chapter II section B (Precision levels and sampling intensities) shall apply.

3. Sampling strategy

1. Wherever possible, age-reading shall be performed on commercial catches in order to estimate the age composition by species and, where relevant, the growth parameters. Where this is not possible, Member States shall justify why in their national programmes.

2. If cooperation between Member States ensures that the overall estimate of the parameters listed in Appendix VII reach the necessary precision level, each Member State shall ensure that its own contribution to the common dataset is sufficient to reach that precision level.

4. Precision levels

1. For stocks of species that can be aged, average weights and lengths for each age shall be estimated at a precision level 3, up to such an age that accumulated landings for the corresponding ages account for at least 90 % of the national landings for the relevant stock.

2. For stocks for which age reading is not possible, but for which a growth curve can be estimated, average weights and lengths for each pseudo age (e.g. derived from the growth curves) shall be estimated with a precision of level 2, up to such an age that accumulated landings for the corresponding ages account for at least 90 % of the national landings for the relevant stock.

3. For maturity, fecundity and sex ratios, a choice may be made between reference to age or length, provided that Members States which have to conduct the corresponding biological sampling, have agreed the following:

(a)

For maturity and fecundity, calculated as proportion of mature fish, precision of level 3 must be achieved within the age and/or length range, the limits of which correspond to a 20 % and 90 % of mature fish;

(b)

For sex ratio, calculated as proportion of females, precision of level 3 must be achieved, up to such an age or length that cumulated landings for the corresponding ages or lengths account for at least 90 % of the national landings for this stock.

5. Exemptions rules

1. The national programme of a Member State may exclude the estimation of the stock related variables for stocks for which TACs and quota have been defined under the following conditions:

(a)

The relevant quota must correspond to less than 10 % of the Community share of the TAC or to less than 200 tonnes on average during the previous three years;

(b)

The sum of relevant quotas of Member States whose allocation is less than 10 %, must account for less than 25 % of the Community share of the TAC.

2. If the condition set out in above point 1(a) is fulfilled, but not the condition set out in point 1(b), the relevant Member States may set up a coordinated programme to achieve, for their joint landings, a joint sampling scheme, or Member States may individually set up other national sampling schemes leading to the same precision.

3. If appropriate, the national programmes may be adjusted until 1 February of each year to take into account the exchange of quotas between Member States.

4. For stocks for which TACs and quotas have not been defined and which are outside the Mediterranean Sea, the same rules established under point 5(1) apply on the basis of the average landings of the previous three years and with reference to the total Community landings from a stock.

5. For stocks in the Mediterranean Sea, the landings by weight of a Mediterranean Member State for a species corresponding to less than 10 % of the total Community landings from the Mediterranean Sea, or to less than 200 tonnes, except for Bluefin tuna.

(1)

OJ L 186, 15.7.2008, p. 3.

(2)

OJ L 358, 31.12.2002, p. 59.