TITLE IIFISHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNION FISHING VESSELS
CHAPTER II Additional allocations for vessels participating in trials on fully documented fisheries
Article 15Additional allocations
1.
For certain stocks, a Member State may grant an additional allocation to vessels flying its flag and participating in trials on fully documented fisheries. Those stocks are identified in Annex I.
2.
The additional allocation referred to in paragraph 1 shall not exceed the overall limit set out in Annex I as a percentage of the quota allocated to that Member State.
Article 16Conditions for additional allocations
1.
The additional allocation referred to in Article 15 shall comply with the following conditions:
(a)
Member States shall ensure detailed and accurate documentation of all fishing trips and adequate capacity and means, such as observers, closed-circuit television (CCTV) and others. In doing so, Member States shall respect the principle of efficiency and proportionality;
(b)
the additional allocation granted to an individual vessel that participates in trials on fully documented fisheries shall not exceed any of the following limits:
- (i)
75 % of the discards of the stock, as estimated by the relevant Member State, produced by the type of vessel to which the individual vessel that has been granted the additional allocation belongs;
- (ii)
30 % of the vessel's individual allocation prior to participating in the trials;
(c)
(d)
once the individual allocation for any stock subject to the additional allocation has been fully utilised by a vessel, the vessel in question must cease all fishing activity in the relevant TAC area;
(e)
in respect of the stocks for which this Article may be used, Member States may allow transfers of the individual allocation or any part thereof from vessels not participating in trials on fully documented fisheries to vessels participating in those trials provided that it can be demonstrated that discards by the non- participating vessels do not increase.
2.
Notwithstanding paragraph 1(b)(i), a Member State may exceptionally grant to a vessel flying its flag an additional allocation exceeding 75 % of the estimated discards of the stock produced by the type of vessel to which the individual vessel that has been granted the additional allocation belongs, provided that:
(a)
the rate of stock discards, as estimated for the relevant type of vessel, is less than 10 %;
(b)
the inclusion of that type of vessel is important to evaluate the potential of the monitoring means used in accordance with paragraph 1(a);
(c)
an overall limit of 75 % of the estimated stock discards produced by all vessels participating in the trials is not exceeded.
3.
Prior to granting the additional allocation referred to in Article 15, a Member State shall submit the following information to the Commission:
(a)
the list of vessels flying its flag and participating in trials on fully documented fisheries;
(b)
the specifications of the remote electronic monitoring equipment installed on board those vessels;
(c)
the capacity, type and specification of gears used by those vessels;
(d)
the estimated discards for each type of vessel participating in the trials;
(e)
the amount of catches of the stock subject to the relevant TAC made in 2015 by the vessels participating in the trials.
Article 17Processing of personal data
To the extent that the recordings obtained in accordance with Article 16(1)(a) of this Regulation involve the processing of personal data within the meaning of Directive 95/46/EC, that Directive shall apply to the processing of such data.
Article 18Withdrawal of additional allocations
Where a Member State detects that a vessel participating in trials on fully documented fisheries fails to comply with the conditions set out in Article 16, it shall immediately withdraw the additional allocation granted to that vessel and exclude that vessel from participation in those trials for the remainder of the year 2016.
Article 19Scientific review of discard assessments
The Commission may request any Member State that avails itself of this Chapter to submit its assessment of the discards produced per type of vessel to a scientific advisory body for review, in order to monitor the implementation of the requirement set out in Article 16(1)(b)(i). In the absence of an assessment confirming such discards, the Member State concerned shall take any appropriate measure to ensure compliance with that requirement and shall inform the Commission thereof.