L 87/70 Official Journal of the European Union 31.3.2009 REGULATION (EC) No 218/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 March 2009 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic (recast) (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (}), Whereas: (1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 3880/91 of 17 December 1991 on the submission of nominal catch statistics by Member States fishing in the north-east Atlantic (%) has been substantially amended several times (3). Since further amendments are to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity. (2) The management of the Community’s fishery resources requires accurate and timely statistics on the catches by Member States’ vessels fishing in the north-east Atlantic. (3) The Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries, approved by Council Decision 81/608/EEC (*) and establishing the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, requires the Community to supply that Commission with the available statistics that it may request. (4 Advice received from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea under the Cooperation Agreement between that organisation and the Community (°) will be enhanced by the availability of statistics on the activities of the Community fishing fleet. (5 The Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean, approved by Council Decision 82/ (") Opinion of the European Parliament of 17 June 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 26 February 2009. () OJL 365, 31.12.1991, p. 1. (>) See Annex VL () OJL 227, 12.8.1981, p. 21. (°) Arrangement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Economic Community and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (O] L 149, 10.6.1987, p. 14). 886/EEC (°) and establishing the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (Nasco), requires the Commu- nity to supply Nasco with the available statistics that it may request. (6) Several Member States have requested the submission of data in a different form or through a different medium from that specified in Annex IV (the equivalent of the Statlant questionnaires). (7)  There is a need for fuller definitions and descriptions used in fishery statistics and in the management of the fisheries of the north-east Atlantic. (8) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (). (9) In particular, the Commission should be empowered to adapt the lists of species and statistical fishing regions, the descriptions of those fishing regions and the permitted degree of aggregation of data. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC, HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Each Member State shall submit to the Commission data on the annual nominal catches by vessels registered in or flying the flag of that Member State fishing in the north-east Atlantic. The nominal catch data shall include all fishery products landed or transhipped at sea in no matter what form but shall exclude quantities which, subsequent to capture, are discarded at sea, consumed on board or used as bait on board. Aquaculture production shall be excluded. The data shall be recorded as the live weight equivalent of the landings or transhipments, to the nearest tonne. () OJ L 378, 31.12.1982, p. 24. () OJL 184,17.7.1999, p. 23.