1.The data to be submitted shall be of two types:
(a)the annual nominal catches, expressed in tonnes live weight equivalent of the landings, of each of the species listed in Annex I in each of the statistical fishing regions of the north-west Atlantic listed in Annex II and defined in Annex III;
(b)the catches as specified under point (a) and the corresponding fishing activity, subdivided by calendar month of capture, fishing gear, vessel size and main species sought.
2.The data referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be submitted by 31 May of the year following the reference year and may be preliminary data. The data referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 shall be submitted by 31 August of the year following the reference year and shall be definitive data.
The data referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 and submitted as preliminary data should be clearly identified as such.
No submissions shall be required for species/fishing region combinations for which no catches were recorded in the reference period of the submission.
Should the Member State concerned not have fished in the north-west Atlantic in the preceding calendar year, it shall inform the Commission thereof by 31 May of the following year.
3.The definitions and codes to be used in submitting information on fishing activity, fishing gear, method of fishing and vessel size are given in Annex IV.
4.The Commission may amend the lists of species and statistical fishing regions and the descriptions of those regions, as well as the measures, codes and definitions applied to fishing activity, fishing gear, vessel sizes and methods of fishing.
Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 6(2).