NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT WITHIN THE AREA ALLOCATED TO EU VESSELS
6. Maximum number of days
6.1.During the 2011 management period, the maximum number of days at sea for which a Member State may authorise a vessel flying its flag to be present within the area having carried on board and used any one of the fishing gears referred to in point 2 is shown in Table I.
6.2.During the 2011 management period, a Member State may manage its fishing effort allocation according to a kilowatt days system. By that system it may authorise any vessel concerned to be present within the area for a maximum number of days which is different from that set out in Table I for any one of the groupings of fishing gears laid down in that Table, provided that the overall amount of kilowatt days corresponding to such a grouping is respected.
For a specific grouping of fishing gears, the overall amount of kilowatt days shall be the sum of all individual fishing efforts allocated to the vessels flying the flag of the Member State concerned and qualified for that specific grouping. Such individual fishing efforts shall be calculated in kilowatt days by multiplying the engine power of each vessel by the number of days at sea it would benefit from, according to Table I, if this point were not applied.
6.3.A Member State wishing to benefit from the system referred to in point 6.2. shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for each grouping of fishing gears the details of the calculation based on:
list of vessels authorised to fish by indicating their EU fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power,
the number of days at sea for which each vessel would have initially been authorised to fish according to Table I and the number of days at sea which each vessel would benefit from in application of point 6.2.
On the basis of that description, the Commission may authorise that Member State to benefit from the system referred to in point 6.2.
7. Management periods
7.1.A Member State may divide the days present within the area given in Table I into management periods of durations of one or more calendar months.
7.2.The number of days or hours for which a vessel may be present within the area during a management period shall be fixed at the discretion of the Member State concerned.
In case that a Member State authorises vessels to be present within the area by hours, the Member State shall continue measuring the consumption of days as specified in point 3. Upon request by the Commission, the Member State shall demonstrate its precautionary measures taken to avoid an excessive consumption of days within the area due to a vessel terminating presences in the area that do not coincide with the end of a 24-hours period.
8. Allocation of additional days for permanent cessations of fishing activities
8.1.An additional number of days at sea on which a vessel may be authorised by its flag Member State to be present within the geographical area when carrying on board any of the gears referred to in point 2 may be allocated to Member States by the Commission on the basis of permanent cessations of fishing activities that have taken place since 1 January 2004 either in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2792/1999 or Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1198/2006 or Regulation (EC) No 744/2008(1), or resulting from other circumstances duly motivated by Member States.
The effort expended in 2003 measured in kilowatt days of the withdrawn vessels using the gear in question shall be divided by the effort expended by all vessels using that gear during 2003. The additional number of days at sea shall be then calculated by multiplying the ratio so obtained by the number of days that would have been allocated according to Table I. Any part of a day resulting from this calculation shall be rounded to the nearest whole day.
This point shall not apply where a vessel has been replaced in accordance with point 4.2. or when the withdrawal has already been used in previous years to obtain additional days at sea.
8.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 8.1. shall submit a request to the Commission with reports in electronic format containing for each grouping of fishing gears the details of the calculation based on:
lists of withdrawn vessels with their EU fishing fleet register number (CFR) and their engine power,
the fishing activity deployed by such vessels in 2003 calculated in days at sea by concerned grouping of fishing gears.
8.3.On the basis of such a request the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 6.2. for that Member State in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.
8.4.During the 2011 management period, a Member State may re-allocate those additional numbers of days at sea to all or parts of the vessels remaining in fleet and qualified for the relevant grouping of fishing gears.
8.5.A Member State may not re-allocate in the 2011 management period any additional number of days resulting from a permanent cessation of activity previously allocated by the Commission, unless the Commission has taken a decision that reassesses those additional numbers of days on the basis of the current gear groupings and limitations in days at sea. Upon the Member State's request to reassess the number of days, the Member State is provisionally authorised to reallocate 50 % of the additional number of days, until the Commission takes its decision.
9. Allocation of additional days for enhanced scientific observer coverage
9.1.Three additional days on which a vessel may be present within the area when carrying onboard any of the groupings of fishing gear referred to in point 2 may be allocated between 1 February 2011 and 31 January 2012 to Member States by the Commission on the basis of an enhanced programme of scientific observer coverage in partnership between scientists and the fishing industry. Such a programme shall focus in particular on levels of discarding and on catch composition and go beyond the requirements on data collection, as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 and Regulation (EC) No 665/2008(2) for national programmes.
Observers shall be independent from the owner, the master of the fishing vessel and any crew member.
9.2.Member States wishing to benefit from the allocations referred to in point 9.1. shall submit a description of their enhanced scientific observer coverage programme to the Commission for approval.
9.3.On the basis of this description, and after consultation with STECF, the Commission may amend the number of days defined in point 6.1. for that Member State and for the vessels, the area and gear concerned by the enhanced programme of observers in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.
9.4.If an enhanced scientific observer coverage programme submitted by a Member State has been approved by the Commission in the past and the Member State wishes to continue its application without changes, the Member State shall inform the Commission of the continuation of that programme four weeks before the beginning of the period for which the programme applies.
| Table I | ||
| Maximum number of days a vessel may be present within the area by gear grouping per year | ||
| Gearpoint 2 | DenominationOnly the gear groupings as defined in point 2 are used | Western Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 2(a) | Beam trawls of mesh size ≥ 80 mm | 164 |
| 2(b) | Static nets with mesh size < 220 mm | 164 |
Council Regulation (EC) No 744/2008 of 24 July 2008 instituting a temporary specific action aiming to promote the restructuring of the European Community fishing fleets affected by the economic crisis (OJ L 202, 31.7.2008, p. 1).
Commission Regulation (EC) No 665/2008 of 14 July 2008 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 concerning the establishment of 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 (OJ L 186, 15.7.2008, p. 3).