
COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 712/2010 of 26 July 2010 amending Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 as regards certain fishing opportunities and amending Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(3) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 of 14 January 2010 fixes for 2010 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in EU waters and, for EU vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required.

(2) In the context of the fisheries agreement with Norway, a further 521 tonnes of cod in Norwegian waters of ICES zones I and II, as well as 150 tonnes of whiting and 100 tonnes of plaice in the North Sea have been made available to the Union. In addition, the arrangements for licences for EU vessels fishing for mackerel in Norwegian waters have been amended. These measures should be implemented in the law of the Union.

(3) At its annual meeting in 2009, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) decided to reopen the fishery for cod in zone NAFO 3M and for redfish in zone NAFO 3LN after having set a moratorium for over ten years. The by-catch rules established in Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 for the two reopened fisheries should be amended to ensure consistency with the general by-catch rules applicable in the NAFO Regulatory Area pursuant to Article 4(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1386/2007 of 22 October 2007 laying down conservation and enforcement measures applicable in the Regulatory Area of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation.

(4) In the context of the fisheries agreement with Greenland, the conditions for fishing cod in Greenlandic waters have been amended. These amendments should be implemented into the law of the Union.

(5) At its special meeting in Madrid on 24-26 February 2010, the compliance committee of The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) reduced the quota for bluefin tuna allocated to the European Union. It is therefore necessary to implement those new provisions into the law of the Union.

(6) Having regard to paragraphs 5 and 8 of Article 5 and paragraph 4 of Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 302/2009 of 6 April 2009 concerning a multiannual recovery plan for bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean it is necessary to establish the maximum number and total capacity in gross tonnage of fishing vessels of each Member State that may be authorised to fish for, retain on board, tranship, transport, or land bluefin tuna, the maximum number of tuna traps that may be authorised by each Member State, the maximum tuna farming and fattening capacity for each Member State and the maximum input of wild caught bluefin tuna that each Member State may allocate to its farms.

(7) Within the context of establishing fishing opportunities and in accordance with Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 of 18 December 2008 establishing a long-term plan for cod stocks and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, the Council may, on the basis of information provided by Member States and assessed by the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), exclude certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime established in that Regulation, provided that appropriate data is available on cod catches and discards of the vessels concerned, that the percentage of cod catches does not exceed 1,5 % of the total catches of the group of vessels and that the inclusion of the group in the effort regime would constitute an administrative burden disproportionate to its overall impact on cod stocks. Germany provided information on the cod catches by a group of vessels targeting saithe in the North Sea and in the area to the West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size equal to or larger than 120 mm. 

Ireland provided information on the cod catches by a group of vessels targeting Nephrops in the Irish Sea with a selective sorting grid similar to that defined in Appendix 2 to Annex III to Council Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 of 16 January 2009 fixing for 2009 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required. France provided information on the cod catches by a group of vessels targeting deep-sea species in the West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size larger than 110 mm. On the basis of that information as assessed by STECF, it can be established that the cod catches, including discards, of those groups of vessels do not exceed 1,5 % of their total catches. Moreover, having regard to control and monitoring measures in place ensuring the monitoring and control of the fishing activities of those groups of vessels and considering that the inclusion of those groups would constitute an administrative burden disproportionate to the overall impact of that inclusion on cod stocks, it is appropriate to exclude those groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008, thus allowing to establish the effort limits for the Member States concerned accordingly.

(8) Article 16(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 allowed Member States to modify their effort allocations in 2009 by transferring their fishing effort and capacity between geographical areas, provided that certain conditions were met. On the basis of the information provided by the Netherlands regarding the transfer of a certain amount of effort and capacity from the North Sea to the Irish Sea in 2009, it is appropriate to adjust the maximum allowable effort allocated to the Netherlands, which is set out in Appendix 1 to Annex IIA to Regulation (EU) No 53/2010.

(9) Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 and Council Regulation (EC) No 754/2009 of 27 July 2009 excluding certain groups of vessels from the fishing effort regime laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10) Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 applies from 1 January 2010. However, the fishing effort limits are laid down for a one-year period starting from 1 February 2010. In order to follow the year-to-year regime of reporting on fishing opportunities, the provisions of this Regulation concerning catch limits and allocations should apply from 1 January 2010 and the provisions concerning fishing effort limits from 1 February 2010. Such retroactive application would be without prejudice to the principle of legal certainty as the fishing opportunities to be reduced have not yet been exhausted,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Amendment to Regulation (EU) No 53/2010
Article 1 
Regulation (EU) No 53/2010 is amended as follows:

1.. Article 15 is replaced by the following:
'
Fishing and farming and fattening capacity limitations for bluefin tuna
Article 15 

1. The number of EU bait boats and trolling boats authorised to fish actively for bluefin tuna between 8 kg/75 cm and 30 kg/115 cm in the Eastern Atlantic shall be limited as set out in point 1 of Annex IV.
2. The number of EU coastal artisanal fishing vessels authorised to fish actively for bluefin tuna between 8 kg/75 cm and 30 kg/115 cm in the Mediterranean shall be limited as set out in point 2 of Annex IV.
3. The number of EU vessels fishing for bluefin tuna in the Adriatic Sea for farming purposes authorised to fish actively for bluefin tuna between 8 kg/75 cm and 30 kg/115 cm shall be limited as set out in point 3 of Annex IV.
4. The number and total capacity in gross tonnage of fishing vessels authorised to fish for, retain on board, tranship, transport, or land bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean shall be limited as set out in point 4 of Annex IV.
5. The number of traps engaged in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery shall be limited as set out in point 5 of Annex IV.
6. The bluefin tuna farming capacity, the fattening capacity and the maximum input of wild caught bluefin tuna allocated to the farms in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean shall be limited as set out in point 6 of Annex IV.'
2.. Annex IA is amended as follows:

((a)) the entry for whiting in zone IV; EU waters of IIa is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesWhitingMerlangius merlangus ZoneIV; EU waters of IIa(WHG/2AC4.)
Belgium 240 
Analytical TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.

Denmark 1 036
Germany 270
France 1 557
the Netherlands 599
Sweden 2
United Kingdom 7 490
EU 11 194
Norway 640
TAC 12 897



Special condition:
Within the limits of the abovementioned quotas, no more than the quantities given below may be taken in the following zone:
 Norwegian waters of IV(WHG/*04N-)
EU 8 203’
((b)) the entry for plaice in zone IV; EU water of IIa, that part of IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and the Kattegat is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesPlaicePleuronectes platessa ZoneIV; EU waters of IIa; that part of IIIa not covered by the Skagerrak and the Kattegat(PLE/2A3AX4)
Belgium 3 671 
Analytical TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.

Denmark 11 931
Germany 3 442
France 688
the Netherlands 22 946
United Kingdom 16 979
EU 59 657
Norway 4 168
TAC 63 825
Special condition:
Within the limits of the abovementioned quotas, no more than the quantities given below may be taken in the following zone:
 Norwegian waters of IV(PLE/*04N-)
EU 24 439’
((c)) the entry for mackerel in zone IIIa and IV; EU waters of IIa, IIIb, IIIc and IIId is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesMackerelScomber scombrus ZoneIIIa and IV; EU waters of IIa, IIIb, IIIc and IIId(MAC/2A34.)
Belgium 475 
Analytical TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.

Denmark 12 529
Germany 495
France 1 496
the Netherlands 1 507
Sweden 4 485
United Kingdom 1 395
EU 22 382
Norway 103 374
TAC Not relevant





Special condition:
Within the limits of the abovementioned quotas, no more than the quantities given below may be taken in the following zones:
 IIIa(MAC/*03A.) IIIa and IVbc(MAC/*3A4BC) IVb(MAC/*04B.) IVc(MAC/*04C.) VI; international waters of IIa from 1 January to 31 March 2010 and in December 2010(MAC/*2A6.)
Denmark  4 130   5 360
France  490   
the Netherlands  490   
Sweden   390 10 1 697
United Kingdom  490   
Norway 3 000’    
3.. Annex IB is amended as follows:

((a)) the entry for cod in zone Greenland waters of NAFO 0 and 1; Greenland waters of V and XIV is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesCodGadus morhua ZoneGreenland waters of NAFO 0 and 1; Greenland waters of V and XIV(COD/N01514)
Germany 1 636 
Analytical TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 does not apply.

United Kingdom 364
EU 2 500
TAC Not relevant



((b)) the entry for cod in zone Norwegian waters of I and II is replaced by the following:
'
SpeciesCodGadus morhua ZoneNorwegian waters of I and II(COD/1N2AB.)
Germany 2 486 
Analytical TAC
Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 847/96 does not apply.
Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 847/96 does not apply.

Greece 308
Spain 2 773
Ireland 308
France 2 281
Portugal 2 773
United Kingdom 9 642
EU 20 571
TAC Not relevant'
4.. Annex IC is amended as follows:

((a)) the entry for cod in zone NAFO 3M is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesCodGadus morhua ZoneNAFO 3M(COD/N3M.)
Estonia 61 
Germany 247
Latvia 61
Lithuania 61
Poland 209
Spain 796
France 110
Portugal 1 070
United Kingdom 521
EU 3 136
TAC 5 500


((b)) the entry for redfish in zone NAFO 3LN is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesRedfishSebastes spp. ZoneNAFO 3LN(RED/N3LN.)
Estonia 173 
Germany 119
Latvia 173
Lithuania 173
EU 638
TAC 3 500


5.. In Annex ID, the entry for bluefin tuna in zone Atlantic Ocean, east of 45° W, and Mediterranean is replaced by the following:

‘SpeciesBluefin tunaThunnus thynnus ZoneAtlantic Ocean, east of 45° W, and Mediterranean(BFT/AE045W)
Cyprus 70,18 
Greece 130,3
Spain 2 526,06
France 2 021,93
Italy 1 937,5
Malta 161,34
Portugal 237,66
All Member States 2,41
EU 7 087,38
TAC 13 500





6.. Appendix 1 to Annex IIA is amended as follows:

((a)) in table (b), the columns concerning Germany (DE) and the Netherlands (NL) are replaced by the following:
'
Regulated gear  DE  NL
TR 1  1 269 111  371 757
TR 2 516 154 1 080 920
TR 3 3 501 48 508
BT 1 29 271 999 808
BT 2 1 691 253 34 743 212
GN 224 484 438 664
GT 467 0
LL 0 0'
((b)) in table (c), the column concerning Ireland (IE) is replaced by the following and the following column for the Netherlands (NL) is added:
'
Regulated gear  IE  NL
TR 1  59 625  0
TR 2 778 729 0
TR 3 8 433 0
BT 1 0 0
BT 2 514 584 200 000
GN 18 255 0
GT 0 0
LL 0 0'
((c)) in table (d), the columns concerning Germany (DE) and France (FR) are replaced by the following:
'
Regulated gear  DE  FR
TR 1  11 151  2 685 733
TR 2 0 7 415
TR 3 0 0
BT 1 0 7 161
BT 2 0 13 211
GN 35 442 400 503
GT 0 0
LL 0 54 917'
7.. Annex III is replaced by the following:

‘ANNEX III 

Quantitative limitations of fishing authorisations for EU vessels fishing in third-country watersArea of fishing Fishery Number of fishing authori-sations Allocation of fishing authorisations amongst Member States Maximum number of vessels present at any time
Norwegian waters and fishery zone around Jan Mayen Herring, north of 62°00′ N 93 DK: 32, DE: 6, FR: 1, IE: 9, NL: 11, PL: 1, SV: 12, UK: 21 69
Demersal species, north of 62°00′ N 80 DE: 16, IE: 1, ES: 20, FR: 18, PT: 9, UK: 14 50
Mackerel 97 DK: 15, DE: 4, FR: 2, IE: 23, NL: 11, SE: 6, UK: 36 70
Industrial species, south of 62°00′ N 480 DK: 450, UK: 30 150
Faroese waters All trawl fisheries with vessels of not more than 180 feet in the zone between 12 and 21 miles from the Faroese baselines 26 BE: 0, DE: 4, FR: 4, UK: 18 13
Directed fisheries for cod and haddock with a minimum mesh of 135 mm, restricted to the area south of 62°28′ N and east of 6°30′ W 8  4
 Trawl fisheries outside 21 miles from the Faroese baseline. In the periods from 1 March to 31 May and from 1 October to 31 December, these vessels may operate in the area between 61°20′ N and 62°00′ N and between 12 and 21 miles from the baselines. 70 BE: 0, DE: 10, FR: 40, UK: 20 26
Trawl fisheries for blue ling with a minimum mesh of 100 mm in the area south of 61°30′ N and west of 9°00′ W and in the area between 7°00′ W and 9°00′ W south of 60°30′ N and in the area south-west of a line between 60°30′ N, 7°00′ W and 60°00′ N, 6°00′ W 70 DE: 8, FR: 12, UK: 0 20
Directed trawl fisheries for saithe with a minimum mesh size of 120 mm and with the possibility to use round-straps around the codend 70  22
 Fisheries for blue whiting. The total number of fishing authorisations may be increased by four vessels to form pairs, should the Faroese authorities introduce special rules of access to an area called “main fishing area of blue whiting”. 36 DE: 3, DK: 19, FR: 2, NL: 5, UK: 5 20
Line fisheries 10 UK: 10 36
Mackerel 12 DK: 12 12
Herring, north of 61° N 21 DK: 7, DE: 1, IE: 2, FR: 0, NL: 3, SV: 3, UK: 5 21





8.. Annex IV is amended as follows:

((a)) the table in point 2 is replaced by the following:
'
Spain 139
France 86
Italy 35
Cyprus 25
Malta 83
EU 368'
((b)) the following points are added:
'
4.. Maximum number and total capacity in gross tonnage of fishing vessels of each Member State that may be authorised to fish for, retain on board, tranship, transport, or land bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean

Table A
Number of fishing vessels
 Cyprus Greece Italy France Spain Malta
Purse Seiners 1 1 24 19 6 0
Longliners 12 0 30 0 81 83
Bait boat 0 0 0 8 61 0
Handline 0 0 0 29 2 0
Trawler 0 0 0 78 0 0
Other artisanal 0 256 0 87 33 0


Table B
Total capacity in gross tonnage
 Cyprus Greece Italy France Spain Malta
Purse Seiners 51 260  4 826 1 608 0
Longliners 409 — 1 196 0 4 416,73 1 365,64
Bait boat — — — 243 10 335,58 0
Handline — — — 1 436 20,96 0
Trawler — — — 9 212 0 0
Other artisanal — 3 343,21 — 943 489,83 0


5.. Maximum number of traps engaged in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery authorised by each Member State
 Number of traps
Spain 6
Italy 6
Portugal 1
6.. Maximum bluefin tuna farming capacity and fattening capacity for each Member State and maximum input of wild caught bluefin tuna that each Member State may allocate to its farms in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean

Table A
 Maximum tuna farming capacity and fattening capacity
 Number of farms Capacity (in tonnes)
Spain 14 11 852
Italy 15 13 000
Greece 2 2 100
Cyprus 3 3 000
Malta 8 12 300
Table B
 Maximum input of wild caught bluefin tuna (in tonnes)
Spain 5 855
Italy 3 764
Greece 785
Cyprus 2 195
Malta 8 768'
Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 754/2009
Article 2 
In Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 754/2009, the following points are added:
'
((f)) the group of high sea vessels flying the flag of Germany, participating in the fishery indicated in the request from Germany dated 26 March 2010, as completed by correspondence dated 9 April and 20 May 2010, targeting saithe in the North Sea, the EU waters of ICES Zone IIa and in the area to the West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size equal to or larger than 120 mm;
((g)) the group of vessels flying the flag of Ireland, participating in the fishery indicated in the request from Ireland dated 26 March 2010, fishing in the Irish Sea during the period in which these vessels are fishing solely with a selective sorting grid similar to that defined in Appendix 2 to Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 and targeting Norway lobster;
((h)) the group of vessels flying the flag of France, participating in the fishery indicated in the request from France dated 24 March 2010, as completed by correspondence dated 25 March, 29 March, 8 April and 20 May 2010, targeting deep sea species in the area to the West of Scotland with bottom trawls of mesh size larger than 110 mm.'.
Article 3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Points 1 to 5 and 8 of Article 1 shall apply from 1 January 2010.
Article 1(6) and Article 2 shall apply from 1 February 2010.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 26 July 2010.
For the Council
The President
S. VANACKERE