Council Regulation (EU) 2016/2372 of 19 December 2016 fixing for 2017 the fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks in the Black Sea

This Regulation fixes the fishing opportunities by Union fishing vessels flying the flag of Bulgaria and of Romania for 2017 for certain fish stocks in the Black Sea: (a) Turbot (Psetta maxima); (b) Sprat (Sprattus sprattus).

This Regulation shall apply to Union fishing vessels operating in the Black Sea.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: (a) ‘GFCM’ means General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean; (b) ‘Black Sea’ means the geographical sub-area 29 as defined in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 1343/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council ; (c) ‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources; (d) ‘Union fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union; (e) 'stock. means a marine biological resource that occurs in a given management area; (f) ‘Union autonomous quota’ means a limit of the catches autonomously allocated to the Union fishing vessels in the absence of an agreed TAC; (g) ‘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.

The EU autonomous quotas for Union fishing vessels, the allocation of such quotas among Member States, and the conditions functionally linked thereto, where appropriate, are set out in the Annex.

The allocation of fishing opportunities among Member States as set out in this Regulation shall be without prejudice to: (a) exchanges made pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013; (b) deductions and reallocations made pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009; (c) deductions made pursuant to Articles 105 and 107 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.

Catches and by-catches taken in the turbot fishery shall be retained on board or landed only if they have been taken by Union fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State having a quota and that quota is not exhausted.

When, pursuant to Articles 33 and 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States send the Commission data relating to landings of quantities of stocks caught, they shall use the stock codes set out in the Annex 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. It shall apply from 1 January 2017. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States.