This Regulation specifies the details for implementing the landing obligation, provided for in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, from 1 January 2015 in the North Sea, as defined in Article 4(2)(a) of that Regulation, in the fisheries set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
1.By way of derogation from Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the landing obligation shall not apply to catches of mackerel and herring in the purse seine fisheries, if all of the following conditions are met:
the catch is released before a certain percentage (set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 below) of the purse seine is closed (‘the point of retrieval’),
the purse seine gear is fitted with a visible buoy clearly marking the limit for the point of retrieval,
the vessel and the purse seine gear are equipped with an electronic recording and documenting system when, where and extent to which the purse seine has been hauled for all fishing operations.
2.The point of retrieval shall be 80 % closure of the purse seine in fisheries for mackerel and it shall be 90 % closure of the purse seine in fisheries for herring.
3.If the surrounded school consists of a mixture of both species the point of retrieval shall be 80 % closure of the purse seine.
4.It shall be prohibited to release catches of mackerel and herring after the point of retrieval.
5.The surrounded school of fish shall be sampled before its release to estimate the species composition, the fish size composition and the quantity.
By way of derogation from Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, up to a maximum of 3 % in 2015 and 2 % for 2016 of the total annual catches of mackerel, horse mackerel, herring and whiting in the pelagic fishery with pelagic trawlers up to 25 metres in length overall, using mid-water trawl (OTM), targeting mackerel, horse mackerel and herring in ICES areas IV b and c south of 54 degrees north, may be discarded.
1.Quantities of fish released under the exemption provided for in Article 2 and the results of the sampling required under Article 2(5) shall be reported in the logbook.
2.Quantities of fish discarded under the exemption provided for in Article 3 shall be reported in the logbook.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2017.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 October 2014.
For the Commission
The President
José Manuel Barroso