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1. This Article shall apply to fishing operations with bottom gears below a depth of 400 metres.

2. Where, in the course of fishing operations, the quantity of VME indicators, as defined in Annex III, that has been caught in that fishing operation exceeds the thresholds defined in Annex IV, an encounter with VMEs shall be considered to have taken place. The fishing vessel shall immediately cease fishing in the area concerned. It shall resume operations only when reaching an alternative area at least five nautical miles from the area in which the encounter occurred.

3. The fishing vessel shall immediately report each encounter with VMEs to the competent national authorities who shall notify the Commission without delay.

4. Member States shall use the best available scientific and technical information, including biogeographical information and the information referred to in paragraph 3, to identify where VMEs are known to occur or are likely to occur. In addition, a competent scientific advisory body shall be requested by the Commission to carry out an annual assessment of areas where VMEs are known to occur or are likely to occur.

That assessment shall be conducted in accordance with the 2008 FAO International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries in the High Seas, shall apply the precautionary approach to fisheries management as referred to in point 8 of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 and shall be made publicly available.

5. Where, on the basis of the procedure referred to in paragraph 4, areas where VMEs are known to occur, or are likely to occur, have been identified, Member States and the competent scientific advisory body shall inform the Commission in a timely manner.

6. By 13 January 2018, on the basis of the best scientific and technical information available and of the assessments and identifications carried out by Member States and the scientific advisory body, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts for the purpose of establishing a list of areas where VMEs are known to occur or are likely to occur. The Commission shall review the list annually on the basis of advice received from the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries and, where appropriate, amend the list by means of implementing acts. The Commission may remove an area from the list provided that it determines, on the basis of an impact assessment and after consulting the competent scientific advisory body, that there is sufficient evidence to indicate that VMEs are not present, or that appropriate conservation and management measures have been adopted which ensure that significant adverse impacts on VMEs in that area are prevented. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 18.

7. The Commission may review, on the basis of the best available scientific information, the VME indicators, and is empowered to amend the list included in Annex III by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 17.

8. New impact assessments shall be required if there are significant changes to the techniques used for carrying out fisheries with bottom gear, or where there is new scientific information indicating the presence of VMEs in a given area.

9. Fishing with bottom gears shall be prohibited in all areas listed in accordance with paragraph 6.