[pic] | EUROPEAN COMMISSION |

Brussels, 18.11.2010

COM(2010) 675 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on the submission of statistical data on landings of fishery products in Member States

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on the submission of statistical data on landings of fi shery products in Member States

Introduction (scope, background, national legislation)

Under the terms of Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the submission of statistical data on landings of fishery products in Member States[1] (hereinafter referred to as ‘ Landings Regulation) , ‘The Commission shall, by 19 January 2010 and every three years thereafter, submit an assessment report to the European Parliament and the Council on the statistical data compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their relevance and quality. The report shall also analyse the cost-effectiveness of the system used for the collection and processing of statistical data and shall put forward best practices for reducing the workload for Member States and enhancing the usefulness and quality of the statistical data.’ This report documents the progress made by Member States, candidate countries and EFTA countries, together with the Commission, with respect to the provisions this Regulation.

The Landings Regulation requires submission of annual data on the weight and average price of fisheries products landed into Member States by European and EFTA vessels. It is an improvement over the previous instrument in several respects. It requires additional detail on products and their intended uses, and details of vessel nationality. The Landings Regulation also reduces the reporting burden on Member States as data are required annually instead of monthly, and only details of landings of vessels from the EU and EFTA are now required.

Fishing industries in Member States across the European Union are very diverse in terms of the areas fished, the species caught and the composition of fishing fleets (including size of vessels and fishing methods). Methodologies employed for data collection reflect this diversity in the industry, so comparing situations in different Member States is challenging.

Most of the data required for landings reports under Regulation (EC) 1921/2006 are collected primarily under fisheries control legislation and in particular Council Regulation (EEC) 2847/93[2] (‘Control Regulation’). This provides for submission of fishing log books, landing declarations and sales notes, and takeover declarations for quota monitoring and enforcement purposes. Problems with reliability and completeness of data were highlighted in a report by the European Court of Auditors in 2007[3]. In response, a new Control Regulation was adopted by the Council on 20 November 2009[4]. This has greater provision for skippers to submit electronic data, for automated cross-checking by Member States, and tighter rules on marketing fish. Many of the Regulations' new provisions will take time to implement, though many Member States already report changes to their systems in line with what is required.

coverage and content

Data collection

The diversity of geographies of Member States and the structures of their industries has a strong influence on how data is collected. For example, Ireland and the United Kingdom, both with relatively long coastlines and many potential ports of landing, rely on decentralised data collection through their respective fisheries inspectorates. Data is entered at port offices and uploaded to the central database. In contrast, data collection is more centralised in Denmark. Some Member States, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, also report initial collection and collating by regional and devolved administrations.

Those authorised to market fish are required[5] to submit a sales note to the competent authorities in whose territory the first marketing takes place. Many Member States specifically reported on controls on first sales that they had introduced. These included Denmark and also the United Kingdom, which have had a system to register authorised buyers and sellers and to designate authorised markets since 2005. For non-quota species, price information is supplied by wholesalers and 50 percent of non-quota landings are covered in this way. Some Member States, for example Belgium, allow some sales of fish direct to the public in controlled circumstances and others report applying a weight threshold, for example for sales under 50 kg. In the case of Belgium details of such sales are still recorded by the Oostende auction. In other cases the sales are estimated.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006[6] further requires Member States to register those responsible for the first sale of fishery products and those with an annual turnover above EUR 400 000 (EUR 200 000 under the new Control Regulation) to transmit electronic sales notes and take-over declarations to the national authorities. This Regulation also requires the establishment of an electronic hub for sales notes. Where established, electronic data submission improves speed of data collection and accuracy of reporting. Member States report different degrees of coverage of landings through electronic channels. For example, most landings are reported electronically in Denmark, and electronic coverage of some species is almost total.

Data sources

Logbooks, sales notes and landing declarations are the most important administrative sources of catch and landings data. The skippers of vessels of over 10 m overall length are required by Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 to keep a logbook of their operations (except when absent from port for less than 24 hours). Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 also requires skippers to submit a landing declaration to the appropriate authorities within 48 hours of landing. Logbooks are of a standard EU format, adapted in some cases (for example Finland) to suit the nature of the industry. Logbooks provide a means of recording data during operations and require only an estimate of the live weight of the catch. They are most useful for apportioning catches to fishing areas, for calculation of fishing effort and for cross-checking.

More accurate information is supplied through landing declarations, which are made at the end of each trip and record the quantity of each species (often only those subject to catch quotas or other European legislation) in the form of landed weight. Sales notes are submitted to the authorities responsible for the first marketing of fish (whether the vessel’s agent or the auction authorities). These include information on the quantity of each of the species landed, the form in which they are presented, and the value of each product, together with information on the vessel making the landing. Again, this information may be limited to species under catch quota management, although some Member States, for example Germany, report complete coverage of all species with sales notes.

Most Member States report using alternative or supplementary data sources for their coastal fleets, mostly for vessels below 10 m (8 m in Sweden and 12 m in Estonia). For example, in Finland, skippers of vessels under 10 m are required to keep monthly diaries of their activities and in Denmark, they may be exempted from the duty of keeping logbooks, provided they have presented a signed ‘declaration on fishing area’ and that they fish in accordance with this declaration. In the United Kingdom, shell fishing activity is recorded by means of monthly diaries, to be completed as a licensing condition, and Denmark uses a sample survey to estimate by-catch from their large industrial fishery.

Statistical censuses and surveys are more widely used by countries prosecuting fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, where coastal fisheries provide a relatively large proportion of fishing activity. Statistical data sources are almost exclusively used in Greece and Italy, with other Mediterranean States relying on administrative sources to a greater degree. French operations in the Mediterranean are monitored by survey, while for operations in the Northeast Atlantic, administrative sources are used. In Italy, where statistical surveys are the primary data source, a small amount of information for Atlantic bluefin tuna only is provided through logbooks. Location of operations is not the sole indicator of whether administrative or survey information is used. The cases of the small Mediterranean island States, Malta and Cyprus, bear more resemblance to the situations of countries whose fleets prosecute the Atlantic fisheries, with administrative data sources being used for the over 10 m fleet and sample surveys to collect data on the under 10 m coastal fleets.

Some Member States, including Slovenia, report that they are still in the process of organising their rules and processes on first point of sale, and on using sales notes and landing declarations for data collection.

Data collection systems in the Member States and EFTA Countries

Belgium – Belgian vessels prosecute fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic (Area 27) only, mostly in the North Sea (IVb and IVc) and the Eastern Channel (VIId). Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes). First sales must be through the three main auctions (Zeebrugge, Oostende and Nieuwpoort) except for small vessels which may sell to the public at Oostende. Sales notes are transmitted to the Sea Fisheries Service (Dienst Zeevisserj) on the day of landing.

Bulgaria – Bulgarian vessels prosecute fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea (Area 37), and mainly sub area 37.4.2. Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes) supplied to the National Agency of Fisheries and Aquaculture (NAFA). NAFA requires sending of sales notes from first sales within 48 hours of landing. Electronic transmission of sales notes is planned in line with community legislation.

Denmark – Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes) and data are collected centrally by the Danish Directorate of Fisheries (DDF). First sale of fish by non-commercial fishermen is forbidden in Denmark, and all first-hand buyers must be registered with the DDF and submit sales notes to them in either electronic or paper form. Around 90 percent of sales notes are received electronically.

Germany - German vessels prosecute fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic, Northwest Atlantic, Eastern Central Atlantic and Southeast Pacific (Areas 27, 21, 34 and 87). Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes). These are supplied to the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food via Producer Organisations (POs) and Länder authorities.

Estonia - Estonian vessels prosecute fisheries in the Northwest Atlantic (Area 21) and Northeast Atlantic (27 -Baltic) and 05 (inland waters). Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations, sales notes, and transhipment and transport documents). Vessels under 12 m overall length fill in a ‘coastal fishing’ logbook which is provided for in Estonian national legislation. Estonia requires paper copies of documentation twice a month where data is submitted by e-means. First buyers of fish are required to submit sales notes electronically to the authorities (Ministry of Agriculture for commercial fishing) and several private companies have also opted to do this.

Ireland – Irish vessels prosecute fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic (Area 27). Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations, sales notes and shellfish gatherers' documents). Data are collected at ports by the Irish Sea Fisheries Protection Authority. Ireland reports making significant changes to their collection systems to facilitate the electronic collection of data required by European Union legislation.

Greece – Greek vessels prosecute fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic, Eastern Central Atlantic and Mediterranean (Areas 27, 34 and 37) and record information by statistical surveys. A census survey is applied to the ‘overseas’ fishery and a sample survey for the Area 37 ‘open sea’ and coastal fisheries. Surveys are carried out by the National Statistical Service of Greece. Greece operates a full census of Greek flagged vessels for the ‘Overseas fishery’. The open sea and inshore fishery has a large non-response error (50 percent) and a sampling technique is employed to calculate the discrepancy.

Spain – Spain has a large and diverse fishing industry and various agencies are responsible for data supply and quality. Data collection is in the first instance carried out by the regional authorities and this is then collected centrally. Seven distinct administrative data sources are identified for compilation of landings data including logbooks, sales notes, transfer declarations, landing declarations and information from Fish Producer Organisations (POs). The various sources are integrated into a database for both catches and landings. Coverage of landings from these sources is considered to be exhaustive.

France – Primary responsibility for data submission and data quality rests with the office of fishing and aquaculture (BSPA) which is part of the Ministry of Food, agriculture and Fisheries (MAAP). Data on the important tropical tuna fishery are supplied by the Institute for Research and Development to the Direction des Pêches Maritimes et de l'Aquaculture (DPMA). French vessels are predominantly active in the Northeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Good coverage of fishing activity in the Atlantic is obtained from administrative sources (logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes). For areas where administrative data is less reliable, particularly for the Mediterranean, these sources are supplemented with sample surveys. France has invested heavily in modernising and improving its fisheries data collection system.

Italy – Italy prosecutes fisheries in the Mediterranean, Eastern Central Atlantic and Western Indian Ocean (Areas 37, 34 and 51). It operates a sample survey for Area 37 and a census for other areas. Logbooks are used to collect data on catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna only and these are collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies. The NSI, ISTAT collects data for Areas 34 and 51 and IREPA for Area 37. ISTAT has responsibility for coordinating reporting to Eurostat. Italy has a large number of small vessels (less than 12 m overall length). Around 99 percent of vessels operate in coastal waters around the Italian peninsula. Approximately two-thirds of these are small-scale operating passive gears.[7] Data collection is by a multivariate sample survey with the population segmented by area, vessel size and fishing gear used. The survey methodology confines sampling errors to within a 3.5 percent tolerance. Non-response errors are also recognised and addressed through sample selection. A small number of vessels (around 20) fishing in Areas 34 and 51 complete a questionnaire.

Cyprus – Administrative data (logbooks) are collected by the Fisheries Inspectorate for vessels 10 m and over overall length. A monthly supplementary survey for the bottom trawl fleet is carried out as well as a sample survey of the coastal fishery fleet (vessels under 10 m overall length). The latter is randomly determined and covers 15-20 percent of the sector. Those surveyed are required to complete daily catch/landing reports. The collection of fisheries data and compilation of reports is the responsibility of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.

Latvia - Latvian vessels are active in the Atlantic (Areas 27, 21 and 34). Primary responsibility transmission of data rests with the Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture but other agencies, including the Marine and Inland Waters Administration of the Ministry of the Environment, the Latvian Fish Resources Agency (of the Ministry of Agriculture) are responsible for data collection. Data sources are administrative: logbooks, sales notes and landing declarations. Latvia requires central registration and annual certification of fish buyers. Fish buyers are required to submit electronic sales notes (followed by paper copies) within 48 hours of the completion of the sale.

Lithuania – Lithuania prosecutes fisheries in Northeast and Northwest Atlantic, Eastern Central Atlantic and South Pacific. The Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for data collection and processing. Primary data sources are logbooks and landing declarations. Lithuania reports having an integrated automated system for processing and validation of catch and landings data.

Malta – The Malta Centre for Fisheries Sciences within the Ministry of for Resources and Rural Affairs is responsible for data collection and this is transmitted to Eurostat by the National Statistical Office (Agricultural and Fisheries Statistics Unit). Maltese vessels are active in the Mediterranean (Area 37, sub-area 15). Malta uses logbooks and sales notes as data sources for the over 10 m fleet. A stratified sample survey is conducted at the six ports on the islands of Gozo and Malta. The sample size is set to estimate total fishing effort with a confidence level of 95 percent.

Netherlands – Netherlands vessels are active in areas Northeast and Eastern Central Atlantic and Southeast Pacific (Areas 27, 34 and 87). Data sources are administrative (logbooks, landing declarations, transhipment and transport documents and sales notes). Data are collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Food Quality (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Voedsekwaliteit) and transmitted to Eurostat by the Central Office for Statistics. The Netherlands apply rules which govern the sale of fish through authorised outlets via Producer Organisations. Electronic sales notes are sent within 48 hours of sale

Poland – Logbooks and sales notes are reported to be the main source of information. Responsibility for data collection and transmission rests with the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Portugal – The Portuguese Directorate General for Fisheries and Aquaculture is responsible for submitting statistical data to Eurostat. Portugal has a large and diverse national fleet with different characteristics in the different zones fished. The fleet is dominated by small, open-topped, wooden boats involved in artisanal fishing. The most important areas are the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic. There are also important longline fisheries in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, targeting swordfish (and also blue shark in the Indian Ocean). Data are mostly derived from logbooks, landing declarations and sales notes. Fresh or chilled fish has to be sold through regulated markets and sales note information for these is complete. For fish processed at sea, average prices are obtained from landing declarations.

Romania – Romania is active in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Black Sea (Area 37). Data sources are administrative, logbooks, sales and transport notes. Documents are collected by regional inspectors of the National Agency of Fisheries and Aquaculture (NAFA). NAFA collates this for reporting to Eurostat.

Slovenia – Responsibility for data collection and submission rests with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia and the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. The Slovenian fleet prosecutes fishing grounds in the Northern Adriatic (Area 37). Data sources are administrative for volumes (logbooks). All vessels are required to complete logbooks, so coverage of catches by the fleet is complete, with the exception of landings of small amounts of fish (less than 50kg) which are not currently recorded. Systems are under development to regulate point of first sale and to collect information from sales notes. Price information is collected through a statistical monthly survey of businesses which covers 50 % of total landings by quantity.

Finland - Primary responsibility for fisheries data collection, submission and quality rests with the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute. Registers are maintained by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Finnish vessels fish only in the Baltic Sea. Data sources include a variation of the EU logbook for the over 10m fleet. This also records details of transhipments, fish buyers and discards. A monthly coastal fisheries form is used to record the activity of the under 10m fleet (with the exception of salmon for which there is a different form). The first-hand sales of quota species are regulated, with notifications being compulsory within 48 hours of landing. Information on sales of non-quota species is supplemented with a survey of the largest fish wholesale companies.

Sweden – Responsibility for data collection and submission rests with the Swedish Board of Fisheries. Data sources are administrative, comprising logbooks, sales notes, landing declarations, and, for the coastal fleet, monthly (or even daily) journals. Sales notes are collected centrally, either electronically or on paper, and coastal fishermen have the option of submitting coastal journals electronically, via a secure web interface.

United Kingdom – Catches from the Northeast Atlantic (Area 27) are the most important. There is a sizeable coastal fishery fleet which mainly targets non quota species but takes a significant proportion of some quota stocks. The United Kingdom also operates a small distant water fleet which is UK registered, but based and operated abroad. The fisheries inspectorates of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are responsible for data collection. This is collated and transmitted to Eurostat by the Marine and Fisheries Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). For the over 10 m fleet, administrative data (logbooks, sales notes and landing declarations comprise the data sources. For the under 10 m fleet, logbooks and landing declarations are supplied voluntarily, but sales notes are required under rules governing first sales of fish. These sources provide a complete census of most fishing activity. Additional information on shellfish is provided through activity diaries which are completed as a condition of being granted a shellfish permit.

Iceland – Icelandic vessels fish predominantly in the waters of the Northeast Atlantic but also to a lesser extent in the Northwest and Southern Atlantic. As for EU Member States, there are no fundamental differences in the methodologies for compiling catch and landings statistics. Data is derived from logbooks. Iceland also tightly regulates first sales of fish and all landings must be made into designated ports and weighed on certified scales. Both buyers and processors of fish are required to submit reports. Responsibility for data collection rests with the Icelandic Directorate of Fisheries and with Statistics Iceland for transmission to Eurostat. While the data sources are the same for both organisations, discrepancies may arise where the Directorate of Fisheries supplies data directly, as this draws from the live database which is subject to revision.

Norway – Norwegian vessels fish in the Northeast Atlantic (Area 27), Northwest Atlantic (Area 21) and in the Arctic Ocean (Area 48). The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries is responsible for the collection of fishery data. Data sources are administrative, comprising catch logbooks, landings and sales notes. Logbook data that are registered in the Directorate of Fisheries include records mainly from trawlers, including vessels operating outside the ICES area. Data from landings and sales notes are collected through six different sales organisations and sent electronically on a regular basis to the Directorate of Fisheries. According to Norwegian law, the fishermen’s sales organisations have the sole right to all first-hand sales by Norwegian fishermen. The sales note covers data of both domestic landings and in foreign ports by Norwegian vessels and landings from foreign vessels in Norway. As required in Norwegian regulations, each sales note contains information about species, type of product, fishing area, quantity and value etc. Additional information such as state of preservation is given for statistical purposes.

Data Quality

Methodologies for collecting information for enforcement and control and for statistical purposes are fairly consistent across Member States. The reliability of statistics is dependent on the veracity and accuracy of the documentation provided by fishermen and on Member State authorities' quality controls.

Member States use a variety of mechanisms to monitor fishing activities, including sightings by aircraft, fisheries protection vessels, satellite monitoring (for vessels > 15 metres overall length) and on-board inspections of fishing vessels. This information is used to check the information recorded in logbooks, sales notes and landing declarations. Many Member States already report the use of electronic methods for performing these cross-checks.

The various data sources are also quality-checked on entry, ensuring that the information is internally consistent and basic errors are eliminated, including formatting errors and input of incorrect species, areas and prices. As discussed, various main data sources are checked against each other for consistency, again, often electronically. In addition, some Member States, including the United Kingdom, report having working agreements with other Member States whereby their vessels land, to exchange data for cross-checking, particularly for quota monitoring purposes.

The coverage of data from the various sources is comprehensive, and a majority of Member States report it as being total. For the most part, where administrative data sources (log books, landing declarations and sales notes) are used as data sources, this represents a complete census and no statistical sampling is employed. In Sweden, logbooks are pre-registered to vessels and this reportedly ensures a particularly high degree of return. Any gaps in data coverage are made up through statistical surveys which may cover all or part of fishing operations.

Strict rules are in place governing deadlines for the provision of sales notes, logbooks and landing declarations and these are respected in a majority of cases when the landings are made on the territory of the Member State concerned. In some instances, for example, where electronic data provision is applied, data are updated on a daily basis. Member States frequently report problems with delays in receiving sales notes from vessels that have landed in another Member State or third countries. Such delays can amount to some months. While this issue does not directly affect reports under Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006, which applies to landings in a Member States' own territory, it does have an impact on the quality of related statutory catch reports, particularly in the shorter term–, where less precise logbook information is substituted until sales notes become available. Delays in data submission can lead to discrepancies between supposedly identical information sent to Eurostat and to other Commission Services (DG MARE) for quota monitoring purposes. While Member States endeavour to have their records complete as close to the end of the fishing year as possible, databases are kept open for corrections, though in general, few significant updates are made six months after the reference year.

The Netherlands reported a specific problem with information where fish is prepared and frozen on board and where the first sale is registered on leaving the country as an export. In this instance, average price information is provided until the real data become available. In practice, this applies to most of the Netherland’s catches by volume, comprising mainly pelagic species (mackerel, herring and blue whiting etc.). Other Member States report similar issues, where the fish is not immediately sold and where estimates are supplied using sales of the same or similar species.

Member States also report problems with differing landed to liveweight conversion factors being applied in different Member States. Again, this is not a direct issue for reports under Regulation (EC) No 1921/2006, which require product rather than live weight. However, this has been a particular issue for Member States' quota monitoring and other reporting purposes. This will to a large degree be addressed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 409/2009[8], which sets out common landed weight to live weight conversion factors for many species and products.

A particular problem with species identification has been noted. Various initiatives have been taken to improve this, including providing fishermen with identification charts. For the most part, this affects non-quota species and those where landings are small or irregular. Species may be included under a generic code, even when the species is identified, for example, where the exact code is not yet in the system. Member States can and do revisit these data and make corrections where problems are identified. Denmark notes occasional campaigns to target particular reporting issues among fishermen.

use of the data (data dissemination)

The reports of Member States are made available free of charge through Eurostat’s dissemination database for all users with internet access. The main users of these statistics are DG MARE for the purposes of the Common Fisheries Policy and also the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which uses Eurostat data for making recommendations to DG MARE with respect to fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic.

Main findings: analysis of the results

Summary results are presented in the Annex of the present Report. The overall quantity and value of landings saw a fall across most Member States from 2007 by around 11 % and 17 % respectively (see Table 1). The largest falls from 2007 were recorded for the Netherlands (308 thousand tonnes), Germany (83 thousand tonnes) and Denmark (79 thousand tonnes).

Among Member States, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and France recorded the highest values for landings (see Charts 1 and 2 of the Annex). However, in terms of volume, Denmark recorded the highest landings. These are accounted for by the Danish industrial fishery's large catches of relatively low value pelagic fish.

Both Norway and Iceland recorded higher volumes of landings than any Member State, again with the majority of landings comprising just two pelagic species (43 % and 63 % respectively).

Across the EU as a whole, most species caught in terms of volume were pelagic (herring, sprats, blue whiting and sand eels etc.) (see Table 2 of the Annex) with the only demersal species within the 10 highest volumes being cod. However, the higher-volume pelagic species tend to be of far lower value than the demersal. Nephrops (Norway lobster) is the species with the highest total value in 2008, and the next four highest-ranked species in terms of value are all demersal.

For some Member States, significant quantities of landings were reported under generic species codes. For Ireland, Greece and Italy this represented more than 5 percent of their landings. For Spain, the volumes recorded under generic codes were large, but amounted to a relatively small (less than 2 %) proportion of their recorded landings. This is most probably indicative of the diverse nature of the Spanish fishing industry. The use of generic codes by Italy and Greece may also be an indicator of the diversity of landings, but also a result of the data collection methods and artisanal nature of much of their fleets.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The majority of Member States provided a detailed account of their methodologies, describing their data sources and quality checks employed. The great majority of data supplied to Eurostat are collected under mechanisms introduced for control and enforcement purposes. Eurostat relies mainly on fishermen in the first instance and on national authorities for ensuring the accuracy and quality of data.

2. Member States report no particular differences in methodology for information supplied to the Commission services (DG MARE and Eurostat). The reuse of data for statistical purposes ensures that there is little additional cost burden on the fishing industry. To minimise the burden on Member States providing reports to the European Commission, there is increasingly close cooperation between DG MARE and DG ESTAT through the joint development of information technology solutions for data collection and dissemination.

3. Accurate species identification, particularly for more minor species, is an ongoing problem, as is use of generic codes for species. Eurostat is introducing new automated validation systems for data which will help to address this issue. Further investigation into the reporting of substantial quantities of fish under generic codes by some Member States is warranted.

4. The various administrative data sources may be cross-checked against each other for consistency. When these data sources are used in an integrated way, they can provide a comprehensive and consistent view of fishing activities. Further confidence in data quality is provided by cross-checks from surveillance activities. The increasing use of electronic methods of data collection has improved both the timeliness and accuracy of information. Work to implement systems in line with changing European requirements is ongoing in many Member States.

5. The reduction in frequency of reports reduces the workload for Member States. The data continue to be a valuable source of information for formulation of policy and management of markets within the CFP framework.

ANNEX

LANDINGS OF FISHERY PRODUCTS IN THE EU AND EFTA

Table 1

[pic]

* Figures for Lithuania in 2008 are under review.

Quantity figures are in product weight.

Chart 1

Total value of landings in 2008 — EU and EFTA

[pic]

Chart 2

Total volume of landings in 2008 — EU and EFTA

[pic]

Table 2

The 10 species with the highest volume and value (EU) in 2008

[pic]

[1] OJ L 403, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

[2] Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 of 12 October 1993 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy. OJ L 261, 20.10.1993, p. 1.

[3] Special Report 7/2007 on the control, inspection and sanction systems relating to the rules on conservation of Community fisheries resources.

[4] Council Regulation (EEC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy, amending Regulations (EC) No 847/96, (EC) No 2371/2002, (EC) No 811/2004, (EC) No 768/2005, (EC) No 2115/2005, (EC) No 2166/2005, (EC) No 388/2006, (EC) No 509/2007, (EC) No 676/2007, (EC) No 1098/2007, (EC) No 1300/2008, (EC) No 1342/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1627/94 and (EC) No 1966/2006. OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 1.

[5] Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93.

[6] Council Regulation (EC) No 1966/2006 of 21 December 2006 on electronic recording and reporting of fishing activities and on means of remote sensing. OJ L 409, 30.12.2006, p. 1.

[7] Fishing gears are commonly classified in two main categories: passive and active. This classification is based on the relative behaviour of the target species and the fishing gear. With passive gears, the capture of fish is generally based on movement of the target species towards the gear (e.g. traps), while with active gears capture is generally based on an aimed chase of the target species (e.g. trawls, dredges).

[8] Commission Regulation (EC) No 409/2009 of 18 May 2009 establishing Community conversion factors and presentation codes used to convert fish processed weight into fish live weight, and amending Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2807/83. OJ L 123, 19.5.2009, p. 78.