Catch retention in the tropical tuna purse seine fishery
1. Union purse seine vessels fishing in exclusive economic zones and on the high seas within the Convention Area bounded by 20°N and 20°S shall retain on board all catches of bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin tuna, except in the following situations:
(a)
where, in the final set of a trip, there is insufficient storage space to accommodate all fish caught in that set; in which case, the excess fish caught in that last set may be transferred to and retained on board another purse seine vessel, provided that this is not prohibited under applicable law;
(b)
where the fish are unfit for human consumption; and
(c)
where a serious malfunction of equipment occurs.
2. Where the master of a Union fishing vessel determines that a fish should not be taken on board for reasons related to the size, marketability or species composition, the fish shall be released before the net is fully pursed and not more than one half of the net has been retrieved.
3. Where the master of a Union fishing vessel determines that a fish should not be taken on board because it was caught during the final set of a trip when there is insufficient storage space to accommodate all fish caught in that set, the fish may be discarded provided that:
(a)
the master and crew attempt to release the fish alive as soon as possible; and
(b)
no further fishing is undertaken after the discard until the fish on board the fishing vessel have been landed or transhipped.
4. Fish shall be discarded from Union fishing vessels only after an ROP observer has estimated the species composition of the fish to be discarded.
5. Within 48 hours after any discard, the master of the Union fishing vessel shall submit to the WCPFC Secretariat, with the flag Member State and the Commission in copy, a report that includes the following information:
(a)
name, flag and WIN of the Union fishing vessel and name and nationality of the master;
(b)
licence number;
(c)
name of the observer on board;
(d)
date, time and location (latitude/longitude) of discarding;
(e)
date, time, location (latitude/longitude) and type (drifting FAD, anchored FAD, free school, etc.) of the set;
(f)
reason that the fish were discarded, including a statement of retrieval status if the fish were discarded because they were unfit for human consumption;
(g)
estimated tonnage and species composition of discarded fish;
(h)
estimated tonnage and species composition of retained fish from that set;
(i)
if the fish were discarded in accordance with paragraph 3, a statement that no further fishing will be undertaken until the catch on board has been unloaded; and
(j)
any other information deemed relevant by the master of the Union fishing vessel.
6. The master of the Union fishing vessel shall provide, at the same time that it is submitted to the WCPFC Secretariat, the information referred to in paragraph 5 to an ROP observer on board.
Monitoring and control in the tropical tuna purse seine fishery
1. Notwithstanding Article 26, the VMS polling frequency of vessel position transmission shall be increased to every 30 minutes during the FAD closure periods as defined in the fishing opportunities Regulation.
2. Union purse seine vessels shall not operate under manual reporting during the FAD closure periods.
3. If the automatic reception of VMS positions of the Union fishing vessels by the WCPFC Secretariat is discontinued, the vessel shall not be directed to return to port until the WCPFC Secretariat has exhausted all reasonable steps to re-establish normal automatic reception of VMS positions.
4. Union purse seine vessels shall carry an ROP observer if that vessel is fishing within the area bounded by 20°N and 20°S:
(a)
on the high seas;
(b)
on the high seas and in waters under the jurisdiction of one or more coastal States; or
(c)
in waters under the jurisdiction of two or more coastal States.
FADs and instrumented buoys in the tropical tuna purse seine fishery
1. The design and construction of FADs to be deployed in, or that drift into, the Convention Area shall comply with the following specifications:
(a)
if the floating or raft part (flat or rolled structure) of the FAD is covered with a mesh net, it shall have a stretched mesh size of less than 7 cm and the mesh net shall be well wrapped around the whole raft so that there is no netting hanging below the FAD when it is deployed;
(b)
if a mesh net is used, it shall have a stretched mesh size of less than 7 cm or be tied tightly in bundles or ‘sausages’ with enough weight at the end to keep the netting taut down in the water column. Alternatively, a single weighted panel of less than 7 cm stretched mesh size net or a solid sheet (such as canvas or nylon) may be used.
2. During the FAD closure periods established by Union acts on the allocation of fishing opportunities, Union purse seine vessels, including any of their fishing gears or tenders, conducting a set shall be prohibited from being located within one nautical mile of a FAD.
3. Union fishing vessels shall not be used to aggregate fish, or to move aggregated fish, including by using underwater lights and chumming.
4. FADs or associated electronic equipment shall not be retrieved by a Union fishing vessel during a FAD closure period unless:
(a)
FADs or associated electronic equipment are retrieved and kept on board the vessel until landed or until the end of the FAD closure period; and
(b)
the Union fishing vessel does not conduct any set either for a period of 7 days after retrieval or within a 50 nautical mile radius of the point of retrieval of any FAD.
5. In addition to paragraph 4, Union fishing vessels shall not operate in cooperation with each other in order to catch aggregated fish.
6. Union fishing vessels shall not conduct any set during the closure period within one nautical mile of a point where a FAD has been retrieved by another vessel within 24 hours before the set, if the master of the Union fishing vessel has the knowledge of the location and time of that FAD retrieval.
7. Member States shall ensure that the vessels flying their flag operating in the waters of a coastal State comply with the laws of that coastal State relating to FAD management, including FAD tracking.
Instrumented buoys
Instrumented buoys shall be activated exclusively on board the purse seine vessel.
Data buoys
1. Fishing within one nautical mile of, or interacting with, a data buoy shall be prohibited. That prohibition shall include encircling a data buoy with fishing gear, tying up or attaching the vessel, or any fishing gear, part or portion of the vessel, to a data buoy or its mooring, and cutting a data buoy anchor line.
2. Where a Union fishing vessel becomes entangled with a data buoy, the entangled fishing gear shall be removed with as little damage to the data buoy as possible.
3. The master of a Union fishing vessel shall report to the flag Member State all entanglements, providing the date, location and nature of the entanglement, along with any identifying information contained on the data buoy. The report shall be sent immediately by that flag Member State to the Commission.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, scientific research programmes notified to and authorised by the Commission may operate Union fishing vessels within one nautical mile of a data buoy, as long as they do not interact with those data buoys in the manner referred to in paragraph 1.
Eastern High Seas Pocket special management area
1. Masters of Union fishing vessels operating in the Eastern High Seas Pocket shall report sightings of any fishing vessel to their flag Member State, the Commission or a body designated by it, and the WCPFC Secretariat. The information to be reported shall include: date and time (UTC), position (true degrees of latitude and longitude), bearing, markings, speed (knots) and vessel type. Fishing vessels shall ensure that the information is transmitted within six hours of a sighting taking place.
2. Adjacent coastal States or territories shall receive continuous near real-time VMS data.
Transhipment
1. All transhipments made in the Convention Area concerning highly migratory species covered by the Convention shall take place in a port and shall be weighted in accordance with Article 60 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
2. Member States shall report to the Commission transhipments made by vessels flying their flag, unless the vessel is operated under charter, lease or other similar mechanism as an integral part of the domestic fleet of a coastal State in the Convention Area.
3. The master of a Union fishing vessel offloading fishery products of highly migratory fish stocks covered by and taken in the Convention Area during a transhipment in port or outside the Convention Area, shall complete the WCPFC Transhipment Declaration for each transhipment of catch taken in the Convention Area. The WCPFC Transhipment Declaration shall be sent to the competent authority of the Union fishing vessel’s flag Member State.
4. The master of a Union fishing vessel receiving fishery products of highly migratory fish stocks covered by and taken in the Convention Area during a transhipment in port or outside the Convention Area, shall complete the WCPFC Transhipment Declaration for each transhipment of catch taken in the Convention Area. The WCPFC Transhipment Declaration shall be sent to the competent authority of the Union fishing vessel’s flag Member State.
5. Flag Member States shall validate those data in conformity with Article 109 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and shall, where possible, correct information received from Union fishing vessels engaging in transhipment operations, using all available information such as catch and effort data, position data, observer reports and port monitoring data.
Transhipment to and from non-contracting party vessels
1. Union fishing vessels shall not engage in transhipment operations to or from a vessel flagged to a non-contracting party unless that vessel has been authorised by a decision of the WCPFC, such as:
(a)
a non-contracting party carrier vessel that is on the Record; or
(b)
a non-contracting party fishing vessel that is licenced to fish in the exclusive economic zone of a contracting party in accordance with a decision of the WCPFC.
2. In the situation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the master of the Union carrier vessel or the chartering Member State shall send the WCPFC Transhipment Declaration to the competent authority of the flag Member State and Article 11(5) shall apply.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
