ANNEX VNORTH SEA33
PART CClosed or restricted areas
1.Closure of an area to protect sandeel in ICES divisions 4a and 4b
1.1.Fishing for sandeel with any towed gear with a codend mesh size less than 32 mm shall be prohibited within the geographical area bounded by the east coast of England and Scotland, and enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following coordinates, which shall be measured according to the WGS84 system:
the east coast of England at latitude 55°30′ N
55°30′ N, 01°00′ W
58°00′ N, 01°00′ W
58°00′ N, 02°00′ W
the east coast of Scotland at longitude 02°00′ W.
1.2.
Fisheries for scientific investigation shall be allowed in order to monitor the sandeel stock in the area and the effects of the closure.
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3.Restrictions on the use of beam trawls within 12 nautical miles of the coast of the United Kingdom
3.1.
Vessels shall be prohibited from using any beam trawl inside the areas within 12 nautical miles of the coast of the United Kingdom, measured from the baselines of the territorial waters.
3.2.By way of derogation from point 3.1, fishing with beam trawls within the specified area shall be permitted provided that:
The engine power of the vessels does not exceed 221 Kw and their overall length does not exceed 24 m; and
The beam length or aggregated beam length, measured as the sum of each beam, is no more than 9 m, or cannot be extended to a length greater than 9 m, except when directed fishing for common shrimp (Crangon crangon) with a minimum mesh size of less than 31 mm.
4.Restrictions on fishing for sprat to protect herring in ICES division 4b
Fishing with any towed gear with a codend mesh size of less than 32 mm or static nets less than 30 mm mesh size shall be prohibited within the geographical areas enclosed by sequentially joining with rhumb lines the following coordinates, which shall be measured according to the WGS84, and during the following periods mentioned:
from 1 January to 31 March, and from 1 October to 31 December, within ICES statistical area 39E8. For the purpose of this Regulation, that ICES area shall be the area bounded by a line due east from the east coast of the United Kingdom along latitude 55°00′ N to a point at longitude 1°00′ W, from there due north to a point at latitude 55°30′ N and from there due west to the United Kingdom coast;
from 1 January to 31 March, and from 1 October to 31 December, within the inner waters of the Moray Firth west of longitude 3°30′ W, and in the inner waters of the Firth of Forth west of longitude 3°00′ W,
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F35.
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6.Use of static nets in ICES F4division 4a
6.1.In accordance with point (a) of Article 9(7) and by way of derogation from Part B Point 2 of this Annex, it shall be permitted to use the following gear in waters with a charted depth of less than 600 m:
Bottom set gillnets used for directed fishing for hake of a mesh size of at least 100 mm and no more than 100 meshes deep, where the total length of all nets deployed does not exceed 25 km per vessel and the maximum soak time is 24 hours;
Entangling nets used for directed fishing for anglerfish of a mesh size of at least 250 mm and no more than 15 meshes deep, where the total length of all nets deployed does not exceed 100 km and the maximum soak time is 72 hours.
6.2.
Directed fishing for deepwater sharks as listed in Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council40 in charted depths of less than 600 m shall be prohibited. When accidentally caught, deepwater sharks classified as prohibited in this Regulation and other F5... legislation shall be recorded, unharmed to the extent possible, and shall be promptly released. Deepwater sharks subject to catch limits shall be retained on board. Such catches shall be landed and counted against quotas. F6... Where accidental catches of deepwater sharks by F7United Kingdom fishing vessels exceed 10 tonnes then those vessels may no longer avail of the derogations set out in point 6.1.