Mobulid rays
1. It shall be prohibited to target mobulid rays (genus Mobula) by means of fishing or intentional setting.
2. It shall also be prohibited to retain on board, tranship, land or offer for sale any part or whole carcass of mobulid rays.
3. Union fishing vessels shall ensure the prompt release, alive and unharmed to the extent practicable, of mobulid rays, and shall do so in a manner that would result in the least possible harm to the specimen captured, while taking into consideration the safety of the crew.
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, in the case of mobulid rays that are unintentionally caught and landed as part of a purse seine vessel’s operation, the vessel shall, at the point of landing or transhipment, surrender the whole mobulid ray to the responsible authorities or, where possible, discard them. Mobulid rays surrendered in that manner shall not be sold or bartered but may be donated for purposes of domestic human consumption.
5. The catches referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
General measure for the protection of sharks
The Union longline vessels targeting tuna and billfish shall not use branch lines running directly off the longline floats or drop lines, known as shark lines as depicted in Annex VI.
Oceanic Whitetip Sharks
1. It shall be prohibited to retain on board, tranship, store on a fishing vessel, land or offer for sale any oceanic whitetip shark ( Carcharhinus longimanus ) in whole or in part.
2. Any oceanic whitetip shark caught shall be released as soon as possible after the shark is brought alongside the vessel before being cut free, in order to facilitate a species identification, in a manner that results in as little harm to the shark as possible.
3. ROP observers shall be allowed to collect biological samples from oceanic whitetip sharks that are dead on haulback, provided that the sampling is part of a research project approved by the WCPFC Scientific Committee.
4. Incidental catches of oceanic white tip sharks shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
Whale sharks
1. It shall be prohibited to set a purse seine on a school of tuna associated with a whale shark ( Rhincodon typus ), if the whale shark is sighted prior to the commencement of the set.
2. In the event that a whale shark is unintentionally encircled by the purse seine net, the Union fishing vessel shall:
(a)
ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure its safe release; and
(b)
report the incident to the relevant authority of the flag Member State, including information on the number of individuals, details of how and why the encirclement happened, where it occurred, steps taken to ensure safe release, and an assessment of the life status of the whale shark on release (including whether the animal was released alive but subsequently died).
3. Incidental catches of whale sharks shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
Silky sharks
1. It is prohibited to retain on board, tranship, store on a fishing vessel or land any silky shark ( Carcharhinus falciformis ) in whole or in part.
2. Silky sharks caught shall be released as soon as possible after the shark is brought alongside the Union fishing vessel before being cut free, in order to facilitate a species identification, in a manner that results in as little harm to the shark as possible.
3. Incidental catches of silky sharks shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
4. Member States shall estimate, through data collected from observer programmes and other means such as fishing logbooks or electronic monitoring, the number of releases of silky sharks caught, including the life status upon release (dead or alive), and report this information to the Commission in accordance with Article 38(3), point (d).
5. ROP Observers shall be allowed to collect biological samples from silky sharks caught that are dead on haulback, provided that the sampling is part of a research project approved by the WCPFC Scientific Committee.
Cetaceans
1. It shall be prohibited to set a purse seine net on a school of tuna associated with a cetacean (infraorder Cetacea ), if the animal is sighted prior to commencement of the set.
2. In the event that a cetacean is unintentionally encircled by a purse seine net, the Union fishing vessel shall ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure its safe release. This shall include stopping the net roll and not recommencing fishing operations until the animal has been released and is no longer at risk of recapture.
3. Incidental catches of cetaceans shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
Seabird mitigation measures
1. Union longline vessels fishing south of 30°S shall use either:
(a)
at least two of the following mitigation measures: weighted branch lines, night setting or tori lines (bird scaring lines); or
(b)
hook-shielding devices.
2. Union longline vessels fishing in between the parallels of 25°S and 30°S, shall use one of the following mitigation measures: weighted branch lines, tori lines or hook-shielding devices.
3. Union longline vessels that are 24 metres or more in overall length fishing north of 23°N shall use at least two of the mitigation measures of Table 1 of Annex I, including at least one from Column A of that table.
4. Tori lines may be used only in accordance with the specifications set out in Annex I.
5. The measures referred to in this Article, shall be reported in the logbook in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009. The information to be reported shall include the life status upon release (dead or alive).
Sea turtles
1. Union fishing vessels shall bring on board any captured hard-shell sea turtle (family Cheloniidae ) that is comatose or inactive, as soon as possible after capture, and shall foster its recovery, including giving it resuscitation, before returning it to the water. Masters and operators of Union fishing vessels shall ensure that the crew is aware of and uses proper mitigation and handling techniques.
2. Union purse seine vessels shall:
(a)
avoid the encirclement of sea turtles and, if a sea turtle is unintentionally encircled or entangled, take practicable measures to safely release the turtle;
(b)
release all sea turtles observed to be entangled in FADs or fishing gear;
(c)
if a sea turtle is entangled in a net, ensure that the net roll is stopped as soon as the turtle comes out of the water, that the turtle is disentangled without injuring it before resuming the net roll and, to the extent practicable, assist the recovery of the turtle before returning it to the water;
(d)
carry and employ dip nets, when appropriate, to handle turtles.
3. Union longline vessels that fish in a shallow-set manner shall use at least one of the following methods to mitigate the capture of sea turtles:
(a)
the use of only large circle hooks, which are fishing hooks that are generally circular or oval in shape and which are originally designed and manufactured so that the point is turned perpendicularly back to the shank. These hooks shall have an offset not exceeding 10 degrees;
(b)
the use of only finfish for bait;
(c)
the use of any other measure, mitigation plan or activity that has been reviewed by the WCPFC Scientific Committee and the WCPFC Technical and Compliance Committee and approved by the WCPFC as being capable to reduce the interaction rate (observed numbers per hooks fished) of turtles in shallow-set longline fisheries.
4. Paragraph 3 shall not apply to shallow-set longline fisheries in which the observed mean sea turtle interaction rates are lower than 0,019 sea turtles (all species combined) per 1 000 hooks over the preceding three consecutive years and the level of observer coverage is of at least 10 % during each of those three years.
Marine pollution
Union fishing vessels shall be prohibited from discharging any plastics, oil, fuel products or oily residues, garbage, food waste, domestic waste, incinerator ashes and sewage into the sea. That prohibition shall not apply to fishing gears or devices supporting fishing, such as FADs, released into the water for fishing.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
