Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EC) No 390/97 fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1997 and certain conditions under which they may be fished
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 17. 03. 1997 COM(97) 108 final Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION ffiQ amending Regulation (EC) No. 390/97 fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups offish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1997 and certain conditions under which they may be fished (presented by the Commission) EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM The objective of the present proposal is to fix fishing possibilities for certain stocks offish and to allocate these equitably to Member States. The fixing and the sharing of possibilities for fishing falls exclusively within the competence of the Community and arises from obligations set out in Article 8(4) of Regulation (EEC) n° 3760/92 of the Council of 20 December 19921, establishing a Community regime for fishing and aquaculture. Within the framework of the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Sweden, negotiations have been conducted which resulted, among other things, in a transfer of 4000 tonnes of herring to the Russian Federation from the quota allocated to Sweden in Community waters. On the other hand, the fishery for herring in ICES subareas I and II, which was due to be open on I April 1997, requires an allocation of quotas for Member States before it starts. Otherwise there is a serious risk of overfishing the TAC fixed for Community vessels. While a proposal for an allocation has been already made by the Commission, it appears necessary to condition the opening of the fishery to the adoption of a decision by the Council. This proposal intends to address these matters by modifying Council Regulation (EC) N° 390/972. O. J. No l. 389, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1 O. J. No L66, 6. 3. 1997, p. I Z Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) No /97of 1997 amending Regulation (EC) No. 390/97 fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups offish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1997 and certain conditions under which they may be fished THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3760/921 of 20 December 1992 establishing a Community system for fisheries and aquaculture as amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 8 (4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas Regulation (EC) No. 390/972 fixes, for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, the TACs for 1997 and certain conditions under which they may be fished; Whereas, within the framework of the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Sweden, negotiations have been conducted which resulted, among other things, in a transfer of 4000 tonnes of herring to the Russian Federation from the quota allocated to Sweden in Community waters; whereas this quantity should therefore be deducted from the quota allocated to Sweden for 1997; Whereas, in order to prevent an overfishing of the stock of herring in ICES subareas I and II, the openening of the fishery should be subject to the adoption by the Council of an allocation of catch quotas to Member States for 1997 so that the fishing of the stock is properly monitored and carried out with the security required; O. J. No L389,31. 12. 1992, p. l O. J. No L66, 6. 3. 1997, p. 1 • 3 Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No. 390/97 should therefore be amended accordingly, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 Council Regulation (EC) No 390/97 is hereby modified as follows : 1. The annex to this Regulation shall replace the corresponding elements of Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 390/97. 2. Note (4) related to the species "herring" and the zone "I, II" of Annex 1 to Regulation (EC) No 390/97 is replaced by the following: "no fishing of the stock shall take place until an opening date is decided by the Council on the basis of Article 8(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 3760/92" Artkk. 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, For the Council, The President *i Annex ISpeciee: Htrring Clupoa hênngus Zoftr. iiibcd(i) Belgiê / Belgique Oanmark Deutschland ElUida Eapafla France Ireland Italia Luxembourg Nederland Osterreich Portugal Suomi/Finland Sverige United Kingdom EC TAC 32140 07 450 ( 1 ) (2) Community waters O» which no mora than 80001 may be fished In the Estonian zone, no more than 25001 in the Latvian zona, and no mora than 1000 < in tha Lithuanian zone 36 430 127 680 293 700 (2) 307 700 X ISSN 0254-1475 COM(97) 108 final DOCUMENTS EN 03 Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-098-EN-C ISBN 92-78-16869-6 Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg