European eel
Article 5
Open ↗1. All activities by Union fishing vessels and other Union fishing activities catching European eel ( Anguilla anguilla ), namely targeted, incidental and recreational fisheries, shall be subject to the provisions of this Article. 2. This Article applies to the Mediterranean Sea and to brackish waters such as estuaries, coastal lagoons and transitional waters. 3. It shall be prohibited for Union fishing vessels to fish for European eel in Union and international waters of the Mediterranean Sea for a consecutive three-month period to be determined by each Member State. The fishing closure period shall be consistent with the conservation objectives set out in Regulation (EC) No 1100/2007, with national management plans in place and with the temporal migration patterns of European eel in the Member States concerned. Member States shall communicate the determined period to the Commission no later than one month prior to the entry into force of the closure and in any case no later than 31 January 2020.