Council Regulation (EC) No 27/2005Show full title

PART C ICES SUB-AREAS I TO VII

9. Weighing procedures for herring, mackerel and horse mackerel

9.1. The following procedures shall apply to landings in the European Community by Community and third country vessels of quantities per landing exceeding 10 tonnes of herring, mackerel, and horse mackerel, or a combination thereof, taken in:

(a)

for herring, ICES Sub-areas I, II, IV, VI and VII and Divisions III a, and Vb;

(b)

for mackerel and horse mackerel, in ICES Sub-areas III, IV, VI and VII and Division IIa.

9.2. Landings referred to in point 9.1 are only permitted in designated ports.

9.3. Each Member State concerned shall transmit to the Commission changes in the list, transmitted in 2004, of designated ports in which landings of herring, mackerel and horse mackerel may take place and, changes in inspection and surveillance procedures for those ports including the terms and conditions for recording and reporting the quantities of any of the species and stocks referred to in point 9.1 within each landing. Those changes shall be transmitted at least 15 days before they enter into force. The Commission shall transmit this information as well as ports designated by third countries to all Member States concerned.

9.4. The master of a fishing vessel referred to in point 9.1 or his representative shall inform the competent authorities of the Member State in which the landing is to be made, at least 4 hours in advance of entry to port of landing of the Member State concerned of the following:

(a)

the port he intends to enter, the name of the vessel and its registration number,

(b)

the estimated time of arrival at that port,

(c)

the quantities in kilograms live weight by species retained on board.

The competent authorities of the Member State concerned shall require that the discharge does not commence until authorised to do so.

9.5. By way of derogation from the provisions of point 4.2 of Annex IV to Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83, the master of a fishing vessel shall submit, immediately upon arrival to port, the relevant page or pages of the logbook as demanded by the competent authority at the port of landing.

The quantities retained on board, notified prior to landing as referred to in point 9.4c, shall be equal to the quantities recorded in the logbook after its completion.

By way of derogation from the provisions of Article 5(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83 the permitted margin of tolerance in estimates recorded into the logbook of the quantities in kilograms of fish retained on board of vessels shall be 8 %.

9.6. All buyers purchasing fresh fish shall ensure that all quantities received are weighed. The weighing shall be carried out prior to the fish being sorted, processed, held in storage, transported from the port of landing or resold. The figure resulting from the weighing shall be used for the completion of landing declarations and sales notes.

When determining the weight any deduction for water shall not exceed 2 %.

In addition to the obligations set out in Article 9(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2847/93 the processor or buyer of the quantities landed shall submit to the competent authorities of the Member State concerneda copy of the invoice or a document replacing it, as referred to in Article 22(3) of the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes — Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment(1). Any such invoice or document shall include the information required by Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2847/93 and shall be submitted on demand or within 48 hours of the completion on the weighing.

9.7. All buyers or holders of frozen fish shall ensure that the quantities landed are weighed prior to the fish being processed, held in storage, transported from the port of landing or resold. Any tare weight equal to the weight of boxes, plastic or other containers in which the fish to be weighed is packed may be deducted from the weight of any quantities landed.

Alternatively, the weight of frozen fish packed in boxes may be determined by multiplying the average weight of a representative sample based on weighing the contents removed from the box and without plastic packaging whether or not after the thawing of any ice on the surface of the fish. Member States shall notify to the Commission for approval any changes in their sampling methodology approved by the Commission during 2004. Changes shall be approved by the Commission. The figure resulting from the weighing shall be used for the completion of landing declarations and sales notes.

9.8. By no later than 1 May 2005, all weighing systems shall be approved, calibrated and sealed by the competent authorities. The party weighing the fish shall keep a paginated logbook indicating the running total of the weight and the weight of each landing. This logbook shall be kept for three years. The competent authorities shall have full access to the weighing system and the logbooks.

Until the introduction of weighing systems, referred to in the first paragraph, the weighing shall take place in the presence of a controller.

9.9. The competent authorities of a Member State shall ensure that at least 15 % of the quantities of fish landed and at least 10 % of the landings of fish are subject to full inspections which shall include at least the following:

(a)

monitoring of the weighing of the catch from the vessel, by species. In the case of vessels pumping catch ashore the weighing of the entire discharge from the vessels selected for inspection shall be monitored. In the case of freezer trawlers, all boxes shall be counted. A representative sample of boxes/pallets shall be weighed in order to arrive at an average weight for the boxes/pallets. Sampling of boxes shall also be undertaken according to an approved methodology in order to arrive at an average net weight for the fish (without packing, ice);

(b)

cross verification between quantities by species recorded in logbook and landing declaration or sales note, as well as quantities indicated in prior notice of landing and the quantities discharged by species;

(c)

if the discharge is interrupted, permission shall be required before the discharge can recommence;

(d)

verification that the vessel is empty of all fish, once the discharge has been completed.

10. Fishing for herring in area IIa (EC waters)

It shall be prohibited to land or retain on board herring caught in Division IIa (EC waters) in the periods 1 January to 28 February and 16 May to 31 December.

11. Conditions for landing of herring for industrial purposes

Conditions for landing of herring for industrial purposesBy way of derogation from the provisions of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 the following provisions shall apply:

Herring caught when fishing outside ICES Sub-areas III and IV with nets of minimum mesh size less than 32 mm may not be retained on board or landed unless such catches consist of a mixture of herring and other species, are not sorted and the herring does not exceed 10 % by weight of the total combined weight of herring and other species.

12. Restrictions on fishing for Cod

(a)

West of Scotland: Until 31 December 2005, it shall be prohibited to conduct any fishing activity within the areas enclosed by sequentially joining with rumb lines the following positions:

• 59°05′N, 06°45′W

• 59°30′N, 06°00′W

• 59°40′N, 05°00′W

• 60°00′N, 04°00′W

• 59°30′N, 04°00′W

• 59°05′N, 06°45′W.

(b)

Celtic Sea: Until 31 March 2005, it shall be prohibited to conduct any fishing activity within that part of ICES Division VII included in the following ICES rectangles: 30E4, 31E4, 32E3. This prohibition shall not apply to Beam trawlers in the month of March.

(c)

By way of derogation from (a) and from (b), it shall be permitted to conduct fishing activities using pots and creels within the specified areas and time periods, provided that:

(i)

no fishing gear other than pots and creels are carried on board, and

(ii)

no fish other than shellfish and crustacea are retained on board;

(d)

By way of derogation from point (a) and from point (b), it shall be permitted to conduct fishing activities within the areas referred to in those points using nets of mesh size less than 55 mm, provided that:

(i)

no net of mesh size greater than or equal to 55 mm is carried on board, and

(ii)

no fish other than herring, mackerel, pilchard/sardines, sardinelles, horse mackerel, sprat, blue whiting and argentines are retained on board.

13. Closure of an area for sandeel fisheries

It shall be prohibited to land or retain on board sandeels caught within the geographical area bounded by the east coast of England and Scotland, and enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following positions:

• the east coast of England at latitude 55°30′N,

• latitude 55°30′N, longitude 1°00′W,

• latitude 58°00′N, longitude 1°00′W,

• latitude 58°00′N, longitude 2°00′W,

• the east coast of Scotland at longitude 2°00′W.

However, a limited fishery shall be allowed in order to monitor the sandeel stock in the area and the effects of the closure.

14. Rockall Haddock box

All fishing, except with longlines, shall be prohibited in the areas enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following positions:

Point No	Latitude	Longitude
1	57°00′N	15°00′W
2	57°00′N	14°00′W
3	56°30′N	14°00′W
4	56°30′N	15°00′W

15. Technical conservation measures in the Irish Sea

The technical conservation measures referred to in Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 254/2002 of 12 February 2002 establishing measures to be applicable in 2002 for the recovery of the stock of cod in the Irish Sea (ICES division VIIa)(2) shall temporarily apply in 2005.

(1)

OJ L 145, 13.6.1977, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/66/EC (OJ L 168, 1.5.2004, p. 35).

(2)

OJ L 41, 13.2.2002, p. 1.