
Article 1 
Regulation (EC) No 494/2002 is amended as follows:

((1)) the following Article 1a is inserted:
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Article 1a 
For the purposes of this Regulation, “unintended catches” means incidental catches of marine organisms that, under Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, must be landed and counted against quotas either because they are below the minimum conservation reference size or because they exceed the quantities permitted under the catch composition and by-catch rules.';
((2)) in Article 2, the following paragraph 3 is added:
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3. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to unintended catches of hake subject to the landing obligation set out in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. Those unintended catches shall be landed and counted against the quotas'.
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2016.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 19 October 2015.
For the Commission
The President
Jean-Claude JUNCKER