Fishing opportunities
1. When allocating fishing opportunities available to them in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, Member States shall take account of the likely catch composition of vessels participating in mixed fisheries.
2. Member States may, after notifying the Commission, exchange all or part of the fishing opportunities allocated to them pursuant to Article 16(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013.
3. Without prejudice to Article 8, the TAC for the stocks of Norway lobster in the Western Waters may be established for management areas corresponding to each of the areas defined under points 22 to 25 of the first subparagraph of Article 1(1). In such cases, the TAC for a management area may be the sum of the catch limits of those functional units and of the statistical rectangles outside the functional units.
Recreational fisheries
1. When scientific advice indicates that recreational fishing is having a significant impact on the fishing mortality of a stock referred to in Article 1(1), the Council may set non-discriminatory limits for recreational fishermen.
2. When setting the limits referred to in paragraph 1, the Council shall refer to transparent and objective criteria, including those of environmental, social and economic nature. The criteria used may include, in particular, the impact of recreational fishing on the environment, the societal importance of that activity and its contribution to the economy in coastal areas.
3. Where appropriate, Member States shall take the necessary and proportionate measures for the monitoring and collection of data for a reliable estimation of the actual recreational catch levels.
Effort limitation for sole in the Western Channel
1. The TACs for sole in the Western Channel (ICES division 7e) under the plan shall be complemented by fishing effort limitations.
2. When fixing the fishing opportunities, the Council shall decide annually on the maximum number of days at sea for vessels present in the Western Channel and deploying beam trawls of mesh size equal to or greater than 80 mm and for vessels in the Western Channel deploying static nets with mesh size equal to or less than 220 mm.
3. The maximum number of days at sea referred to in paragraph 2 shall be adjusted in the same proportion as the adjustment in fishing mortality corresponding to the variation in the TACs.
