No L 330/108 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 12. 9§ COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 3090/95 of 22 December 1995 laying down for 1996 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, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Act of Association of Austria, Finland and Sweden, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3760/92 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture ('), and in particular Article 8 (4) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1627/94 of 27 June 1994 laying down general provisions concerning special fishing permits (*), and in particular Article 7 (2) 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 on 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 (>) and entered in 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 actions; (1) OJ No L 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1. Regulation as amended by the 1994 Act of Accession. (3) OJ No L 171, 6. 7. 1994, p. 7. (3) OJ No L 378, 30. 12, 1978, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 654/81 {O] No L 69, 14. 3. 1981, p- 1). 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 Article 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, 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, authorized fish sizes and processed length equivalents; Whereas, in order to ensure sound management of the shrimp stock in NAFO division 3M, a system of fishing effort control should be established; Whereas in order to ensure the conservation of the Greenland halibut stock, provisions should be made for the communication of effort plans for the fishery; 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 (*) 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 (y OJ No L 261, 20. 10. 1993, p. 1.