This Regulation fixes the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks in the Baltic Sea for 2015.

This Regulation shall apply to Union fishing vessels operating in the Baltic Sea.

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

1. (1)

   ‘ICES’ means International Council for the Exploration of the Sea;

2. (2)

   ‘Baltic Sea’ means ICES zones IIIb, IIIc and IIId;

3. (3)

   ‘subdivision’ means an ICES subdivision of the Baltic sea as defined in Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/20056;

4. (4)

   ‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources;

5. (5)

   ‘Union fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;

6. (6)

   ‘fishing effort’ means the product of the capacity and the activity of a fishing vessel; for a group of fishing vessels it is the sum of the fishing effort of all fishing vessels in the group;

7. (7)

   ‘stock’ means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area;

8. (8)

   ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means the quantity of each stock that can be:

   1. (i)

      caught over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; or

   2. (ii)

      landed over the period of a year, in the fisheries that are not subject to the landing obligation pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

9. (9)

   ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country;

10. (10)

    ‘days absent from port’ means any continuous period of 24 hours or part thereof during which a fishing vessel is not present in a port.

The TACs, the quotas and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in Annex I.

The allocation of fishing opportunities to Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to:

1. (a)

   exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

2. (b)

   deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009;

3. (c)

   additional landings allowed under Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

4. (d)

   quantities withheld in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 or transferred under Article 15(9) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

5. (e)

   deductions made pursuant to Articles 105, 106 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Catches and by-catches of plaice shall be retained on board or landed only if they have been taken by Union fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted.

Fishing effort limits are set out in Annex II.

Regulation (EU) No 43/2014 is amended as follows:

1. (1)

   Article 18a is amended as follows:

   1. (a)

      in paragraph 1, the following subparagraphs are inserted:

      1. (m)

         herring in zones VIIa, VIIg, VIIh, VIIj and VIIk;

      2. (n)

         horse mackerel in Union waters of IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId and VIIIe; in Union and international waters of Vb; in international waters of XII and XIV.

   2. (b)

      the following paragraph is inserted:

      7.

      By way of derogation from paragraph 4, the percentage of 10 % shall be increased by an additional 15 % in respect of stocks referred to in paragraph 1(c), (d), (f), (g), (j), (k), (m) and (n).

2. (2)

   in Annex IA, the entry for sprat and associated by-catches in Union waters of IIa and IV shall be replaced by the following:

   ‘Species:	Sprat and associated by-catchesSprattus sprattus		Zone:	Union waters of IIa and IV(SPR/2AC4-C)
   Belgium		1 5468
   Denmark		122 3838
   Germany		1 5468
   France		1 5468
   The Netherlands		1 5468
   Sweden		1 33078
   United Kingdom		5 1038
   Union		135 000
   Norway		9 000
   TAC		144 000		Analytical TAC
   Including sandeel.
   At least 98 % of landings counted against this quota shall be of sprat. By-catches of dab and whiting to be counted against the remaining 2 % of the quota (OTH/*2AC4C).’

Regulation (EU) No 1180/2013 is amended as follows:

1. (1)

   the following Article is inserted:

   Article 5aFlexibility in the fixing of fishing opportunities of certain stocks

   1

   This Article shall apply to the following stocks:

   a

   herring in ICES subdivisions 30-31;

   b

   herring in Union waters of ICES subdivisions 25-27, 28.2, 29 and 32;

   c

   herring in ICES subdivision 28.1;

   d

   sprat in Union waters of ICES subdivisions 22-32.

   2

   Any quantities up to 25 % of a Member State's quota of the stocks identified in paragraph 1 that have not been used in 2014 shall be added for the purpose of calculating the quota of the Member State concerned for the relevant stock for 2015. Any quantities transferred to other Member States pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council9 as well as any quantities deducted pursuant to Articles 37, 105 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 shall be taken into account for the purpose of establishing quantities used and quantities not used under this paragraph.

   3

   Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply to stocks identified in paragraph 1 of this Article in respect of the Member States concerned.

2. (2)

   in Annex I, the following footnote shall be included in respect of entries concerning the following stocks: herring in subdivisions 30-31; herring in Union waters of subdivisions 25-27, 28.2, 29 and 32; herring in subdivision 28.1; sprat in Union waters of subdivisions 22-32:

   Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.

   Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall not apply.

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send the Commission data relating to quantities of stocks caught or landed, they shall use the stock codes set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2015.

However, Articles 8 and 9 shall apply with effect from 1 January 2014.