The committee adopted the report by Zdzislaw Kazimierz CHMIELEWSKI (EPP-ED, PL) amending the proposal under the consultation procedure:
- to remove any ambiguity, a definition of "extension piece" - which is referred to in a number of articles - should be included in the regulation. The committee proposed that it be defined as "a separate piece of the trawl, cylindrical in shape and located between the mouth and the end of the net";
- the committee proposed that an amendment be introduced into Article 12, which prohibits the use of driftnets with effect from 1 January 2008. MEPs called for "an assessment of the effects of using driftnets and other entangling gear on the sea mammal population" to be carried out before that date. They argued that the salmon driftnets used in the southern Baltic posed a minimal threat to porpoise, which were now extremely rare in the area. Moreover, all entangling equipment, including cod fishing nets, could cause death to sea mammals, but this was not dealt with in Article 12. The problem therefore required a thorough examination;
- Article 19 (Closure of Bornholm Deep) should be deleted on the grounds that it is only one of three main spawning grounds in the Baltic and should therefore not be the only one subject to fishing restrictions;
- the regulation should also allow for the possibility of using the T90 codend (which has been positively evaluated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) in addition to the BACOMA-type exit window. The committee therefore included the technical specifications of this equipment in the Appendix in Annex II.