ANNEX II U.K.

ANNEX IID U.K.

FISHING OPPORTUNITIES AND FISHING EFFORT FOR VESSELS FISHING FOR SANDEEL IN ICES ZONES IIIA AND IV AND IN EC WATERS OF ICES ZONE IIA

1. The conditions laid down in this Annex shall apply to Community vessels fishing in ICES zones IIIa and IV and in EC waters of ICES zone IIa with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm. The same conditions shall apply to third country vessels authorized to fish for sandeel in EC waters of ICES zone IV unless otherwise specified, or as a consequence of consultations between the Community and Norway as set out in Table 3, footnote 13, of the Agreed Record of conclusions between the European Community and Norway of 1 December 2006. U.K.

2. For the purposes of this Annex a day present within the area shall be: U.K.

(a)

the 24-hour period between 00:00 hours of a calendar day and 24:00 hours of the same calendar day or any part of such a period or;

(b)

any continuous period of 24 hours as recorded in the Community logbook between the date and time of departure and the date and time of arrival or any part of any such time period.

3. Each Member State concerned shall, not later than 1 March 2007, establish a data base containing for ICES zones IIIa and IV, for each of the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and for each vessel flying its flag or registered within the Community which have been fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm, the following information: U.K.

(a)

the name and internal registration number of the vessel;

(b)

the installed engine power of the vessel in kilowatts measured in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86;

(c)

the number of days present within the area when fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gear with a mesh size of less than 16 mm;

(d)

the kilowatt-days as the product of the number of days present within the area and the installed engine power in kilowatts.

4. The following quantities shall be calculated by each Member State: U.K.

(a)

the total kilowatt-days for each year as the sum of the kilowatt-days calculated in point 3(d);

(b)

the average kilowatt-days for the period 2002 to 2006.

5. Each Member State shall ensure that the total kilowatt-days in 2007 for vessels flying its flag or registered in the Community does not exceed the effort deployed in 2005 as calculated under point 4(a). U.K.

6. Notwithstanding the effort limit laid down in point 5, the total kilowatt-days deployed by each Member State for the purpose of setting up exploratory fishing, which shall not start before 1 April 2007, shall not exceed, within the period 1 April to 6 May, 30 % of the total kilowatt-days deployed in 2005. U.K.

7. The fishing effort deployed by two Faroese vessels for the purpose of undertaking exploratory fishing shall not exceed 2 % of the fishing effort deployed by the Member States for the same purpose as established in point 6. U.K.

8. The TAC and quotas for sandeel in ICES zone IIIa and in EC waters of ICES zones IIa and IV as laid down in Annex I shall be revised by the Commission as early as possible based on advice from ICES and the STECF on the size of the 2006 year class of North Sea sandeel, in accordance with the following rules: U.K.

(a)

where ICES and the STECF estimates the size of the 2006 year class of North Sea sandeel to be equal to or smaller than 150 000 million individuals at age 1, fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm shall be prohibited for the remainder of 2007. However, a limited fishery may be allowed in order to monitor the sandeel stocks in ICES zones IIIa and IV and the effects of the closure. To this end the Member States concerned shall, in cooperation with the Commission, develop a plan for the monitoring of this limited fishery;

(b)

where ICES and the STEFC estimates the size of the 2006 year class of North Sea sandeel to be greater than 150 000 million at age 1, the TAC (in 1 000 t) shall be established according to the following function:

TAC₂₀₀₇ = - 597 + (4,073*N₁)

where N1 means the real-time estimate of age group 1 in billions and the TAC is in 1 000 t;

(c)

notwithstanding point 7(b), the TAC shall not exceed 400 000 tonnes;

(d)

The Commission Regulation on the revision of the TAC and quotas for sandeel in ICES zone IIIa and in EC waters of ICES zones IIa and IV following the scientific advice referred to in the points (a) and (b) shall be applicable as from the date of publication of a notice by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union setting out the required revision.

9. Commercial fishing with demersal trawl, seine or similar towed gears with a mesh size of less than 16 mm, shall be prohibited from 1 August 2007 until 31 December 2007. U.K.