# Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/45 of 20 October 2017 establishing a discard plan for certain demersal fisheries in the North Sea and in Union waters of ICES Division IIa for the year 2018, Article 9: Specific technical measures in the Skagerrak

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. The carrying on board or the use of any trawl, Danish seine, beam trawl or similar towed net having a mesh size of less than 120 mm shall be prohibited in the Skagerrak.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the following trawls may be used:
(a) trawls with a cod end of a mesh size of at least 90 mm, provided they are equipped with a seltra panel or a sorting grid with no more than 35 mm bar spacing;
(b) trawls with a cod end of at least 70 mm mesh size (square mesh) equipped with a sorting grid with no more than 35 mm bar spacing;
(c) trawls of minimum mesh sizes of less than 70 mm when fishing for pelagic or industrial species, provided the catch contains more than 80 % of one or more pelagic or industrial species;
(d) trawls with a cod end of at least 35 mm mesh size when fishing for Northern prawn, provided the trawl is equipped with a sorting grid with a maximum bar spacing of 19 mm.
3. A fish retention device may be used when fishing for Northern prawn in accordance with paragraph 2(d), provided there are adequate fishing opportunities to cover by-catch and that the retention device is:
(a) constructed with a top panel of a minimum mesh size of 120 mm square mesh;
(b) at least 3 metres long; and
(c) at least as wide as the width of the sorting grid.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2018/45/article/9 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2018-45/article-9
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.