1. The Commission shall provide Member States which have fishing opportunities in the fisheries managed by the WCPFC, with any guidelines adopted by the WCPFC, in particular with regard to:
(a)
the handling practices for mobulid rays;
(b)
the best handling practises of whale sharks and other sharks;
(c)
the handling of sea turtles; and
(d)
the safe release of cetaceans.
2. The Member States concerned shall ensure that the guidelines referred to in paragraph 1 are provided to the masters of the vessels flying their flag engaged in those fisheries. Those masters shall take all reasonable steps to apply such guidelines.
1. Member States shall submit to the Commission, by 20 April of each year, scientific data in accordance with the applicable WCPFC reporting requirements with respect to scientific data and, by 15 June of each year, an annual report on the implementation of this Regulation that complies with the WCPFC reporting requirements under the CMMs, including on any checks they have imposed on their fleets and any monitoring, control and compliance measures they have established to ensure compliance with such checks.
2. Catch and fishing effort by the Union vessels shall be reported under the applicable CMMs according to the following species groups: albacore tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack, yellowfin tuna, swordfish, other billfish, and sharks. Estimates of discards and releases shall also be provided for each of those species. Catch estimates shall also be provided for other species as determined by the Commission.
3. The annual report referred to in paragraph 1 shall include in particular the following:
(a)
the catch levels of fishing vessels flying their flag that have taken striped marlin ( Kajikia audax ) as a bycatch as well as the number and catch levels of vessels fishing for striped marlin in the Convention Area south of 15°S;
(b)
the annual catch levels taken by each of the fishing vessels flying their flag that has taken South Pacific albacore ( Thunnus alalunga ), as well as the number of vessels actively fishing for South Pacific albacore in the Convention Area south of 20°S;
(c)
the progress of implementation of this Regulation with respect to sea turtles conservation, including information collected on interactions with sea turtles in fisheries managed under the Convention;
(d)
an estimate, through data collected from observer programmes and other means, of the number of releases of silky sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks, including the life status upon release (dead or alive);
(e)
the number of WCPFC transhipment declarations received pursuant to Article 11(3) and (4), that they have sent to the Commission;
(f)
any instances in which whale sharks have been encircled by the purse seine nets of the vessels flying their flag, including the details required under Article 16(2), point (b);
(g)
any instances in which cetaceans have been encircled by the purse seine nets of the vessels flying their flag in accordance with Article 18(2);
(h)
all transhipment operations covered by Article 11, in accordance with the guidelines in Annex II to CMM 2009-06;
(i)
an annual statement of compliance measures under Article 25(8) of the Convention concerning action that they have taken in response to any alleged infringement of this Regulation, including boarding and inspections of the fishing vessels flying their flag that resulted in the observation of alleged infringements, including any proceedings instituted and sanctions applied.
4. Member States shall also report, as part of their annual report referred to in paragraph 1, to the Commission the total number of vessels that fished for swordfish and the total catch of swordfish ( Xiphias gladius ) for:
(a)
vessels flying their flag south of 20°S, other than vessels operating under charter, lease or other similar mechanism as part of the domestic fishery of another contracting party;
(b)
vessels operating under charter, lease or other similar mechanism as part of their domestic fishery south of 20°S; and
(c)
any other vessels fishing within their waters south of 20°S.
5. Member States shall also report to the Commission, or a body designated by it, as soon as possible any sightings of fishing vessels that appear to be without nationality, that may be fishing in the high seas of the Convention Area for species covered by the Convention.
1. If the Commission receives from the WCPFC any information indicating a suspected non-compliance with the Convention or a CMM by a Member State or by vessels flying its flag, the Commission shall transmit that information to the Member State concerned without delay.
2. The Member State shall provide the Commission, or a body designated by it, with the findings of any investigation undertaken in relation to the allegations of non-compliance and any actions taken to address compliance concerns within one month after receiving the information from the Commission as referred to in paragraph 1.
3. The Commission shall forward the findings referred to in paragraph 2 to the WCPFC at least 60 days in advance of the WCPFC Technical and Compliance Committee meeting.
1. In addition to the obligations laid down in Articles 112 and 113 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009, Member States and the Commission, or the body designated by it under this Regulation, shall ensure confidential treatment of electronic reports and messages transmitted to, and received from, the WCPFC Secretariat.
2. All personal data collected, transferred and stored under this Regulation shall be treated in accordance with Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725.
3. Personal data processed under this Regulation shall not be stored for a period longer than 10 years, except if those personal data are necessary to allow the follow-up of an infringement or an inspection, or for the purpose of judicial or administrative procedures. In those cases, the personal data may be stored for 20 years. If personal data are retained for a longer period, the data shall be anonymised.
1. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 42 in order to amend this Regulation in respect of the following:
(a)
the vessel information to be submitted to the Commission in accordance with Article 23(1);
(b)
the VMS requirements provided for in Article 26;
(c)
the percentage of observer coverage under the ROP referred to in Article 28(4);
(d)
the rights and obligations of ROP observers referred to in Article 28(9) and (10);
(e)
the rights and obligations of vessel operators, masters and crews referred to in Article 29;
(f)
the reporting deadlines for the reporting obligation referred to in Article 38(1);
(g)
Annexes I to VI.
2. The delegated powers referred to paragraph 1 shall be strictly limited to the implementation of amendments to, or replacements of, CMMs which are binding on the Union, into Union law.
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 41 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 15 November 2022. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 41 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 41 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
