Technical measures for the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea and the West of Scotland
Article 19
1. The following shall apply to fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls and seines in ICES divisions 7f, 7g, the part of 7h north of latitude 49° 30′ North and the part of 7j north of latitude 49° 30′ North and east of longitude 11° West: (a) fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines shall use gear with one of the following mesh sizes: (i) 110 mm cod-end with 120 mm square mesh panel; or (ii) 120 mm cod-end; (b) in addition, fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls whose catches weighed before any discards consist of at least 20 % of haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus ) shall use a fishing gear that is constructed with a minimum of one metre spacing between the fishing line and ground gear; Member States may exempt from the application of this point fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls whose catches, weighed before any discards, consist of less than 1,5 % of cod, provided those vessels are subject to a progressive increase of observer coverage at sea up to at least 20 % of all their fishing trips; (c) fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines with catches comprising more than 30 % of Norway lobster ( Nephrops norvegicus ) shall use 80 mm cod-end and one of the following gears: (i) 300 mm square mesh panel; (ii) seltra 300 mm square mesh sorting box; or (iii) Nordmøre sorting grid with a maximum bar spacing of 35 mm or a similar Netgrid selectivity device; (d) fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines with catches comprising more than 55 % of anglerfish ( Lophiidae ), hake ( Merluccius merluccius ) or megrim ( Lepidorhombus spp.) combined, shall use one of the following gears: (i) 100 mm cod-end with a 100 mm square mesh panel; or (ii) 100 mm T90 cod-end and extension. 2. The following shall apply to fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines in ICES divisions 6a and 5b, within Union waters, east of 12°W (West of Scotland) in Norway lobster fisheries: (a) fishing vessels shall use a square mesh panel (positioning retained) of at least 300 mm for vessels deploying a cod-end mesh size less than 100 mm; for vessels below 12 m in length overall or with engine power of 200 kW or less, the panel overall length may be 2 m and the panel mesh size may be 200 mm; (b) fishing vessels with catches comprising more than 30 % of Norway lobster shall use a square mesh panel (positioning retained) of at least 160 mm for vessels deploying a cod-end mesh size of 100-119 mm. 3. The following shall apply to fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines in ICES division 7a (Irish Sea): (a) fishing vessels fishing with otter trawls or seines with a cod-end mesh size equal to or larger than 70 mm and smaller than 100 mm and with catches comprising more than 30 % of Norway lobster shall use one of the following gears: (i) 300 mm square mesh panel; fishing vessels below 12 metres in length overall may use a 200 mm square mesh panel; (ii) seltra 300 mm square mesh sorting box; or (iii) Nordmøre sorting grid with a maximum bar spacing of 35 mm or a similar Netgrid selectivity device. (b) fishing vessels equal to or greater than 12 metres in length overall operating with otter trawls or seines with catches comprising more than 10 % of haddock, cod and skates and rays ( Rajiformes ) combined, shall use 120 mm cod-end. 4. The catch percentages in paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article shall be calculated as the proportion by live weight of all marine biological resources landed after each fishing trip, in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and Article 27(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1241. 5. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2019/1241, it shall be prohibited for fishing vessels to fish with otter trawls and seines in the following zones: (a) in ICES divisions 7b and 7c; (b) in the area west of 5° W longitude in ICES division 7e; and (c) in ICES divisions from 7f to 7k. This prohibition shall not apply to fishing vessels where: (a) they use a cod-end mesh size of at least 100 mm; or (b) their by-catches of cod do not exceed 1,5 %, as assessed by the STECF, when fishing outside the areas referred to in paragraph 1. 6. For the purpose of this Article, the following definitions apply: (a) ‘otter trawls’ means trawls held open by otter boards towed on the seabed; (b) ‘seltra 300 mm square mesh sorting box’ means a selectivity device which: (i) consists of a top panel of at least 300 mm mesh size (square mesh), placed in a four-panel box section, in the straight section of a cod end; (ii) is at least 3 metres long; (iii) is positioned no more than 4 metres from the cod line; and (iv) is the full width of the top sheet of the box section of the trawl (i.e. from selvedge to selvedge); (c) ‘Nordmøre sorting grid’ means a selectivity device which: (i) consists of a rigid grid with a maximum bar spacing of 35 mm; and (ii) is fitted with a square mesh panel of 120 mm mesh size, positioned between 9 and 12 metres from the codline; (d) ‘Netgrid device’ means a selectivity device consisting of a four-panel section inserted into a two-panel trawl with an inclined sheet of diamond mesh netting with a mesh size of at least 200 mm leading to an escape hole in the top of the trawl.