Discard ban
1. Union purse seine vessels shall retain on board and land all catches of tropical tunas (bigeye tuna ( Thunnus obesus ), yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ) and skipjack tuna ( Katsuwonus pelamis )), except where the master of the vessel determines that:
(a)
fish are unfit for human consumption, or
(b)
there is insufficient storage capacity to accommodate tropical tuna and the non-targeted species caught during the final set of a trip.
2. Fish referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), may only be discarded if the master and crew attempt to release the tropical tuna and the non-targeted species alive as soon as possible, while taking into consideration the safety of the crew, and no further fishing is undertaken after the discard until the tropical tuna and the non-targeted species on board the vessel have been landed or transhipped.
3. The master of a Union fishing vessel shall record the exceptions referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b), in the relevant logbook, including estimated tonnage and species composition of discarded fish, and estimated tonnage and species composition of retained fish from that set.
4. For the purposes of this Article, non-targeted species includes non-targeted tuna species, as well as rainbow runner ( Elagatis bipinnulata ), dolphinfish ( Coryphaena hippurus ), triggerfish (family Balistidae ), billfish (families Xyphiidae and Istiophoridae ), wahoo ( Acanthocybium solandri ) and barracuda (family Sphyraenidae ).
Prohibition of fishing on data buoys
1. Union fishing vessels shall not intentionally fish within one nautical mile of a data buoy or interact with a data buoy in the Area, in particular by:
(a)
encircling the buoy with fishing gear;
(b)
tying up to or attaching the vessel, or any fishing gear, part or portion of the vessel, to a data buoy or its mooring; or
(c)
cutting a data buoy anchor line.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Union fishing vessels may operate within one nautical mile of data buoys provided that they operate under scientific research programmes of Member States notified to the IOTC and they do not interact with those data buoys.
3. Union fishing vessels shall not take on board a data buoy in the Area, unless the owner responsible for that buoy has explicitly authorised or requested them to do so.
4. Union fishing vessels operating in the Area shall keep watch for moored data buoys at sea and shall take all reasonable measures to avoid fishing gear entanglement or directly interacting in any way with those data buoys. When a Union fishing vessel’s gear becomes entangled with a data buoy, it shall remove the entangled fishing gear with as little damage to the data buoy as possible.
5. Union fishing vessels shall report to their flag Member States any data buoy that they have observed to be damaged or otherwise inoperable, along with the details of observation, the buoy’s location, and any discernible identifying information on it. Member States shall send such reports, and information on the location of data buoys assets that they have deployed throughout the Area to the Commission, in accordance with Article 51(5).
