This means that decisions take into account the complex interrelationships among marine species and their habitat.

3. Where a Member State has authorised a fishing vessel in accordance with Article 27(2) to use more than one fishing gear or gears belonging to more than one grouping of fishing gears subject to a fishing effort regime during a certain fishing trip in a geographical area subject to that fishing effort regime, the fishing effort deployed during that trip shall be counted simultaneously against the maximum allowable fishing effort available to this Member State and related to each of such gears or groupings of fishing gears and to such geographical area.

1. Without prejudice to specific rules, in relevant geographical areas subject to a fishing effort regime where gear restrictions apply or where maximum allowable fishing effort were set for different fishing gears or groupings of fishing gears, the master of a fishing vessel or his representative shall notify to the competent authorities of the flag Member State before a period to which maximum allowable fishing effort applies which fishing gear or, where applicable, fishing gears he intends to use during the forthcoming period.

Given that the fishery is managed with a TAC, and that this TAC is divided between inshore fishers and the mobile gear fleet before the start of the fishing season, there should be no additional impact on the inshore fishery.

to evaluate, by end 2005, the potential for the provision of financial and non-financial incentives in order to encourage fishermen to move towards more environmentally friendly fishing methods; to submit, as soon as practicable, after consultation with stakeholders including the relevant Regional Advisory Councils, a simplified Proposal for technical conservation measures for the Atlantic and North Sea; to give a high priority to schemes promoting and evaluating environmentally-friendly fishing, including, where appropriate, the development and use of more selective gears, compensation for short-term losses for vessels participating in trials of more environmentally-friendly fishing methods, and the training and education of fishermen; ...[+++] when introducing significant new proposals on environmentally friendly fishing methods, to carry out, as appropriate and on the basis of available information, an assessment of possible economic and social impacts covering an evaluation of both short and long-term effects and consider temporary remedial measures that may be required; to develop a pilot project to address the problem of ghost fishing in Community waters which will include a retrieval system to remove lost gears, gear adjustments that lessen the impact of lost gears and methods to reduce the losses of gears; to request ICES , STECF , SAC and other relevant scientific bodies to broaden the scope of their advice to provide eco-system-based advice for fisheries management; to report to the Council and to the European Parliament during 2007 on the implementation and impact of the actions set out in these conclusions".

(6) For the same reason, measures for the equipment and modernisation of fishing vessels should be restricted either to measures to improve safety, navigation, hygiene, product quality, product safety and working conditions or to measures to increase the selectivity of fishing gear, including for the purpose of reducing by-catches and habitat impacts. These measures should be eligible for FIFG support on condition that they do not lead to an increase in fishing effort.