No L 341/42 Official Journal of the European Communities 31.12. 93 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3680/93 of 20 December 1993 laying down certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the Regulatory Area as defined in the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North West Atlantic Fisheries THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Haviﬁg regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture (1), and in particular Article 8 (4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas the Community has signed the United Nations’ Convention on the Law of the Sea, which contains principles and rules relating to the conservation and management of the living resources within the exclusive economic zones of the coastal States and in the high seas; Whereas the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the North West Atlantic Fisheries, hereinafter referred to as the NAFO Convention, was approved by the Council in Regulation (EEC) No 3179/78 (2) and entered into force on 1 January 1979; whereas the Regulatory Area as defined consists of that part of the Convention Area which lies beyond the areas in which coastal States exercise fisheries jurisdiction; Whereas the NAFO Convention establishes a suitable framework for the rational conservation and management of the fishery resources of the Regulatory Area with a view to achieving the optimum utilization thereof; whereas, to this end, the Contracting Parties undertake to carry out joint measures; Whereas, in the light of the available scientific advice, the catches of certain species in certain parts of the Regulatory Area should be limited; whereas, in .accordance with Articles 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92, it falls to the Council to establish the total allowable catches (TACs) by stock or group of stocks, . (1) OJ No L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1. (2) OJ No L 378, 30. 12. 1978, p. 1. the share available for the Community and the specific conditions under which catches must be made and to allocate the share available to the Community among the Member States; Whereas, in order to ensure the conservation of fishery resources and their balanced exploitation, technical conservation measures must be defined, inter alia for mesh sizes, the level of by-catches and authorized fish sizes; Whereas to enable controls to be carried out on catches from the ‘Regulatory Area while supplementing the monitoring measures provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 (3) certain specific control measures are to be defined, inter alia, for the declaration of catches, the communication of information, the holding of non-authorized nets and information and assistance relating to the storage and processing of catches, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Scope 1. Community vessels operating in the Regulatory Area and retaining on board fish from resources of that area shall do so in furtherance of the objectives and principles of the NAFO Convention. ‘ 2. With a view to ensuring through the joint action of the Contracting Parties the rational conservation and management of the fishery resources of the Regulatory Area for the purpose of achieving the optimum utilization thereof, this Regulation lays down: — limits on catches, — technical conservation measures, — international control measures, — provisions relating to the processing and transmission of certain scientific and statistical data. (3) OJ No L 261, 20. 10. 1993, p. 1.