Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 25 U.K. Data requirements for fisheries management

1. Member States shall, in accordance with the rules adopted in the area of data collection, collect biological, environmental, technical, and socio-economic data necessary for fisheries management, manage those data and make them available to end–users, including bodies designated by the Commission. The acquisition and management of such data shall be eligible for funding through the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund in accordance with a future Union legal act establishing the conditions for the financial support for maritime and fisheries policy for the period 2014–2020. Those data shall, in particular, enable the assessment of:

(a) the state of exploited marine biological resources;

(b) the level of fishing and the impact that fishing activities have on the marine biological resources and on the marine ecosystems; and

(c) the socio-economic performance of the fisheries, aquaculture and processing sectors within and outside Union waters.

2. The collection, management and use of data shall be based on the following principles:

(a) accuracy and reliability, and collection in a timely manner;

(b) the use of coordination mechanisms with a view to avoiding duplication of data collection for different purposes;

(c) safe storage and protection of collected data in computerised databases, and their public availability where appropriate, including at aggregated level, whilst ensuring confidentiality;

(d) access by the Commission, or by bodies designated by it, to the national databases and systems used for processing the collected data for the purpose of verification of the existence and quality of the data;

(e) the availability in a timely manner of the relevant data and the respective methodologies by which they are obtained, for bodies with a research or management interest in the scientific analysis of data in the fisheries sector and for any interested parties, save in circumstances where protection and confidentiality are required under applicable Union law.

3. Every year, Member States shall submit to the Commission a report on the execution of their national data collection programmes and shall make it publicly available.

The Commission shall assess the annual report on data collection after consulting its scientific advisory body and, where appropriate, regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) to which the Union is a contracting party or observer and relevant international scientific bodies.

4. Member States shall ensure the national coordination of the collection and management of scientific data for fisheries management, including socio-economic data. To this end, they shall designate a national correspondent and organise an annual national coordination meeting. The Commission shall be informed of the national coordination activities and shall be invited to the coordination meetings.

5. In close cooperation with the Commission, Member States shall coordinate their data collection activities with other Member States in the same region, and shall make every effort to coordinate their actions with third countries having sovereignty or jurisdiction over waters in the same region.

6. The collection, management and use of data shall be carried out in a cost-effective manner.

7. Failure by a Member State to collect and/or to provide data in a timely manner to end-users may result in a proportionate suspension or interruption of relevant Union financial assistance to that Member State, in accordance with a future Union legal act establishing the conditions for the financial support for maritime and fisheries policy for the period 2014–2020.