Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 laying down measures concerning incidental catches of cetaceans in fisheries and amending Regulation (EC) No 88/98

Council Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 lays down measures for the reporting of incidental catches of cetaceans in defined fisheries and measures to mitigate against such catches.

The Regulation identifies fisheries where the use of acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs) is mandatory, the technical specifications and conditions of use of these devices, and fisheries where observer schemes to obtain representative data have to be conducted in order to assess the extent of bycatch of cetaceans. Member States are responsible for enforcing the use of ADDs and monitoring their efficacy over time, as well as implementing monitoring schemes according to the guidelines under this Regulation.

Under Article 6 of the Regulation, Member States must send the Commission an annual report on the implementation of certain provisions of the Regulation. In accordance with Article 7, the Commission, after receiving the second of these reports from Member States, must produce a Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of this Regulation. Following the submission of the fourth annual report by Member States, the Commission must present an updated Communication to the European Parliament and the Council.

These Communications must be based on the assessment of Member States reports and also take account of assessments made by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF). This document is intended to meet the Commission's second reporting obligation.

This Communication contains a summary of the information collected during 2007-2009 and submitted by Member States to the Commission, in accordance with Article 6 of the Regulation. ICES and STCEF were also requested to analyse the scientific content of the national reports, the implementation of the Regulation and any additional scientific reports provided by Member States. The conclusions from this analysis by ICES and STECF are reflected.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)578: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:578:FIN

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