Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2012 of 24 July 2012 amending Regulations (EU) No 43/2012 and (EU) No 44/2012 as regards the protection of the giant manta ray and certain fishing opportunities

In Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 754/2009, the following point is added: “(i) the group of vessels flying the flag of the United Kingdom identified in the request from the United Kingdom dated 16 March 2012, which participate in a fishery targeting Queen Scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) in the Irish Sea (ICES area VIIa) around the Isle of Man, using a specialised otter trawl gear with an 80-100 mm mesh trawl configured to select against fish catches (2ft low headline, short or no bridles and small trawl mouth);”.’;

Regulation (EU) No 44/2012 is amended as follows: (1) in Article 1, paragraphs 3 and 4 are deleted; (2) in Article 13(1), the following point is added: ‘(g) giant manta ray (Manta birostris) in all waters.’; (3) Article 32 is deleted; (4) in Article 37(1), the following point is added: ‘(g) giant manta ray (Manta birostris) in EU waters.’; (5) Annexes I, IA, IB, IC, IJ and VI are amended in accordance with the text in Annex II to this Regulation.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. This Regulation applies from 1 January 2012. However, Article 1(1), Article 2(2) and (4), Annex I point (1) and Annex II point (1) shall apply from 23 February 2012, and Article 2(3) shall apply from 31 March 2012.