CONTENT : to lay down detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector.

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Council Regulation 1421/2004/EC amending Regulation 2792/1999/EC laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector.

CONTENT : the Council adopted a Regulation amending the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance Regulation as set out in Council Regulation 2792/1999/EC.

The Regulation stemmed from a communication to the European Parliament and the Council on a strategy for the sustainable development of European aquaculture. The proposal aimed at modifying Council Regulation 2792/99/EC in order to allow the FIFG to better contribute to the implementation of the Strategy for the sustainable development of European aquaculture.

The Regulation contains the following measures, among others:

- Suspension of shellfish harvesting: the compromise provides for financial support for temporary suspension of shellfish harvesting due to the growth of toxic algae : more specifically, the Member States may grant financial compensation to shellfish farmers where the contamination in the shellfish due to the growth of toxin-producing plankton or the presence of plankton containing marine biotoxins makes it necessary, for the protection of human health, to suspend harvesting for more than four consecutive months or, where the losses incurred as a result of the suspension of harvesting during a period of concentrated sales, represents in excess of 35 % of the annual turnover of the enterprise concerned, calculated on the basis of the average turnover of that enterprise over the previous three years. The granting of compensation may cover no more than six months of suspension of harvesting over the entire period from the entry in force of Council Regulation 1421/2004/EC amending Regulation 2792/1999/EC laying down the detailed rules and arrangements regarding Community structural assistance in the fisheries sector to the end of 2006;

- Replacement of fishing gear in the event of a recovery plan: fishing gear expenditure is now considered eligible if the vessel is subject to a recovery plan and is required to end its participation in the fishery concerned and fish for other species with different fishing gear;

- Community vessels may be required to use acoustic deterrent devices in certain fisheries to reduce incidental capture and killing of cetaceans. The cost of complying with such an obligation should be eligible for vessel modernisation aid.

ENTRY INTO FORCE : 26/08/2004.