Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/199 of 2 December 2021 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the use of excluder devices in the North Sea fishery for Norway pout

• CELEX: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/199
• Articles: 3

Article 1

Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2019/1241 is amended as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

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 September 2021.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX

ANNEX

In Annex V, Part B, point 1.4, the ninth entry of the table is amended as follows:

Mesh Size

Geographical Areas

Conditions

‘At least 16 mm

Whole area

Directed fishing for small pelagic species which are not covered elsewhere in the table.

Directed fishing for Norway pout. One of the following devices shall be fitted:

(1)

a sorting grid with a maximum bar spacing of 35 mm;

(2)

an excluder device  ( *1 ) , provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i)

the excluder shall have a maximum mesh size of 70mm and shall be mounted with a kite made of PVC or similar flexible materials;

(ii)

where a sail is mounted inside the excluder device across the cone/tube of that device, that sail shall be made of PVC or similar flexible material and the size of the sail shall be such that it does not cover more than 75 % of the cross-section area where it is positioned; and

(iii)

an exit hole of a minimum 50 x 50 cm shall be inserted at the apex of the excluder device.

Directed fishing for common and Aesop shrimps. A separator trawl or sorting grid shall be fitted in accordance with nationally or regionally established rules.

( *1 )

“Excluder device” means a conic net device fulfilling the following criteria:

(1)

it is inserted before the cod-end, in such a way that the leading edge or base of the cone is attached to the full circumference of the trawl in front of the cod-end or extension piece;

(2)

it tapers to an apex where it is attached to the bottom sheet of the trawl;

(3)

an exit hole is cut where the apex of the excluder and cod-end join;

(4)

it allows for the passage of Norway pout through it and its retention in the cod-end, whilst releasing by-catches of fish by guiding them out of the exit hole.’