S.L. 425.9 Art. 3Management plans. (25NM FMZ) plan per Unit Effort 6 7 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9

(1) Management plans for certain fisheries are hereby being adopted, made applicable and enforceable, as the case may be and according to law in Malta, the said management plans being those provided for in the First Schedule and in the Second Schedule.

(2) Without prejudice to the general applicability of subarticle (1), the management plans referred in under subarticle (1) include tables with the objectives, indicators and targets as found in the Third Schedule, in the Fourth Schedule and in the Fifth Schedule, which tables are, respectively:

(a) Table 1 which shows the objectives, indicators and targets for lampara;

(b) Table 2 which shows the objectives, indicators and targets for bottom otter trawlers;

(c) Table 3 which shows the objectives, indicators and targets for lampuki fisheries.

(3) Without prejudice to the general applicability of subarticle (1), as referred in the management plans, it is expected that within the time periods or under those circumstances as established hereunder, or as established in the management plans or according to the discretion of the Director, there shall be:

(a) a reduction of lampara fisheries by 20% (equivalent to 3 vessels) by the end of 2015; and

(b) a reduction of the fishing effort in the case of bottom otter trawl fisheries through the introduction of a capacity reduction plan targeting 20% reduction in capacity, as well as a reduction of the same fishing effort by 10% through the introduction of a temporary cessation for the period spanning from 15 August to 15 September; and

(c) in the case of lampuki fisheries, the number of fishing vessels authorised to fish in the Fishing Aggregating Devices fishery will be retained to 130 vessels and on such vessels there will be a tracking system installed as from the 15th August 2014 onwards, while the same vessels, including those under 10 metres length, will have to register their landings in their catch logbook and land in a designated port.

(4) Without prejudice to the general applicability of subarticle (1), as referred in the management plans, the Director shall enhance data collection and research on:

(a) the identification of stock units in the Mediterranean sub-regions; and

(b) the identification of critical habitats (nursery and spawning sites) and of ecological requirements for the development of eggs and larvae; and

(c) the definition of some biological aspects like growth paramenters and maturity ogives; and

(d) the impact of fisheries based on Fishing Aggregating Devices on by-catch species and on the environment.

(5) The Director shall be responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the management plans referred to under this article and for such purposes shall have all those powers pertaining to said Director under the Act. FIRST SCHEDULE

[Article 3(1)]

Fisheries Management Plan Bottom otter trawl fishery Lampara fishery

Table of contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Abbreviations used

1 Introduction

2 The Common Fisheries Policy and the Mediterranean Sea 3 The Maltese fisheries 3.1 The 25 nautical mile Fisheries Management Zone

3.2 The Maltese commercial fishing fleet 3.3 Recreational fisheries 4 Fisheries covered by the multi-annual national management

4.1 Lampara fishery 4.2 Bottom otter trawling fishery 4.3 Biological Review

4.4 Socio-economic review 4.4.1 Projected price trends 4.4.2 Projected income streams

5 Maltese management plan for the lampara fishery 5.1 Objectives 5.2 Review of the status of the stocks based on Catch (CPUE)

5.2.1 Status of the stocks 5.2.2 Species Composition of Landings 5.2.3 Trends from Catch per Unit Effort data

5.2.4 Trends of biomass from the MEDIAS survey 5.2.5 CPUE Thresholds 5.3 Potential management tools

5.3.1 List of possible management tools 5.4 Assessment of the socio-economic impact of the potential management measures 5.5 Management measures to be adopted 5.6 Implementation of management measures 5.7 Review of management measures

Maltese Management Plan for the bottom otter trawler fishery 6.1 Objectives 6.2 Review of the status of the stocks

6.2.1 Trends from landings data 6.2.2 Trends from Catch per Unit Effort data 6.2.3 Trends of biomass from the MEDITS survey

6.2.4 Stock assessments 6.3 Potential management tools 6.3.1 List of possible management tools

6.4 Assessment of the socio-economic impact of the potential management measures 6.5 Selection of best management tools 6.6 Implementation of management measures

6.7 Review of management measures

Conclusion

Annex I - Lampara

Description of Fishery Fleet Structure and Capacity Fishing effort

1.3.1 Effort Data 1.3.2 Total Effort 1.3.3 Monthly Effort

Conservation Status of Stocks Evolution of Landings 1.5.1 Evolution of Total Landings

1.5.2 Species Composition of Landings MEDIAS Biomass Indices Catch per Unit Effort (CPUE) Data

1.7.1 Evolution of CPUE Trends 1.7.2 CPUE Thresholds Stock Assessments

Impact on the By-Catch Species and the Environment 1.10 Socio-Economic Characteristics of Fishery Annex 2 - Bottom Otter Trawlers