Council Regulation (EU) 2016/72 of 22 January 2016 fixing for 2016 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Union waters and, for Union fishing vessels, in certain non-Union waters, and amending Regulation (EU) 2015/104

This Regulation shall apply to the following vessels:

1. Union fishing vessels;

2. third-country vessels in Union waters.

This Regulation shall also apply to recreational fisheries where they are expressly referred to in the relevant provisions.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 apply. In addition, the following definitions shall apply:

1. ‘third-country vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of, and registered in, a third country.

2. ‘recreational fisheries’ means non-commercial fishing activities exploiting marine living aquatic resources such as for recreation, tourism or sport.

3. ‘international waters’ means waters falling outside the sovereignty or jurisdiction of any State;

4. ‘total allowable catch’ (TAC) means:

   1. in fisheries subject to the landing obligation referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, the quantity of fish that can be caught from each stock each year;

   2. in all other fisheries, the quantity of fish that can be landed from each stock each year;

5. ‘quota’ means a proportion of the TAC allocated to the Union, a Member State or a third country;

6. ‘analytical assessments’ means a quantitative evaluation of trends in a given stock, based on data about the stock's biology and exploitation, which scientific review has indicated to be of sufficient quality to provide scientific advice on options for future catches;

7. ‘mesh size’ means the mesh size of fishing nets as determined in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 517/2008⁽¹⁾;

8. ‘Union fishing fleet register’ means the register set up by the Commission in accordance with Article 24(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

9. ‘fishing logbook’ means the logbook referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

For the purposes of this Regulation the following zone definitions shall apply:

1. ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) zones are the geographical areas specified in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 218/2009⁽²⁾;

2. ‘Skagerrak’ means the geographical area bounded on the west by a line drawn from the Hanstholm lighthouse to the Lindesnes lighthouse and on the south by a line drawn from the Skagen lighthouse to the Tistlarna lighthouse and from this point to the nearest point on the Swedish coast;

3. ‘Kattegat’ means the geographical area bounded on the north by a line drawn from the Skagen lighthouse to the Tistlarna lighthouse and from this point to the nearest point on the Swedish coast and on the south by a line drawn from Hasenøre to Gnibens Spids, from Korshage to Spodsbjerg and from Gilbjerg Hoved to Kullen;

4. ‘Functional Unit 16 of ICES subarea VII’ means the geographical area bounded by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following positions:

   • 53° 30′ N 15° 00′ W,

   • 53° 30′ N 11° 00′ W,

   • 51° 30′ N 11° 00′ W,

   • 51° 30′ N 13° 00′ W,

   • 51° 00′ N 13° 00′ W,

   • 51° 00′ N 15° 00′ W,

   • 53° 30′ N 15° 00′ W;

5. ‘Functional Unit 26 of ICES division IXa’ means the geographical area bounded by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following positions:

   • 43° 00′ N 8° 00′ W,

   • 43° 00′ N 10° 00′ W,

   • 42° 00′ N 10° 00′ W,

   • 42° 00′ N 8° 00′ W;

6. ‘Functional Unit 27 of ICES division IXa’ means the geographical area bounded by rhumb lines sequentially joining the following positions:

   • 42° 00′ N 8° 00′ W,

   • 42° 00′ N 10° 00′ W,

   • 38° 30′ N 10° 00′ W,

   • 38° 30′ N 9° 00′ W,

   • 40° 00′ N 9° 00′ W,

   • 40° 00′ N 8° 00′ W;

7. ‘Gulf of Cádiz’ means the geographical area of ICES division IXa east of longitude 7° 23′ 48″ W;

8. CECAF (Committee for Eastern Central Atlantic Fisheries) areas are the geographical areas specified in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 216/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁾;

9. NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation) areas are the geographical areas specified in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 217/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁾;

10. ‘SEAFO (South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South-East Atlantic Ocean⁽⁵⁾;

11. ‘ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas⁽⁶⁾;

12. ‘CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in point (a) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004⁽⁷⁾;

13. ‘IATTC (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in the Convention for the Strengthening of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission established by the 1949 Convention between the United States of America and the Republic of Costa Rica (‘the Antigua Convention’)⁽⁸⁾;

14. ‘IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission⁽⁹⁾;

15. ‘SPRFMO (South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation) Convention Area’ is the high seas geographical area south of 10° N, north of the CCAMLR Convention Area, east of the SIOFA Convention Area as defined in the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement⁽¹⁰⁾, and west of the areas of fisheries jurisdictions of South American States;

16. ‘the WCPFC (Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission) Convention Area’ is the geographical area defined in the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean⁽¹¹⁾;

17. ‘high seas of the Bering Sea’ is the geographical area of the high seas of the Bering Sea beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of the coastal States of the Bering Sea is measured;

18. ‘overlap area between IATTC and WCPFC’ is the geographical area defined by the following limits:

    • longitude 150° W,

    • longitude 130° W,

    • latitude 4° S,

    • latitude 50° S.