Vessel monitoring system (VMS)
1. Member States shall, no later than two working days following detection or notification of technical failure or non-functioning of the vessel monitoring device on board a Union fishing vessel, forward the geographical position of the vessel to the IOTC Secretariat, or shall ensure that these positions are forwarded to the IOTC Secretariat by the master or the owner of the vessel, or their representative.
2. Where a Member State suspects that one or more vessel monitoring devices on board the vessel of another flag Member State or another CPC do not meet required operational conditions, or have been tampered with, it shall immediately notify the Commission, or a body designated by it. The Commission, or the body designated by it, shall forward the notification to the IOTC Secretariat and the vessel’s flag State.
Chartering
1. Chartering shall be subject to the following conditions:
(a)
the flag CPC has consented in writing to the chartering agreement;
(b)
the duration of the fishing operation under the chartering agreement does not exceed 12 months in any calendar year;
(c)
fishing vessels to be chartered shall be registered with the responsible CPC which shall explicitly agree to comply with the CMMs and enforce them on their vessels; all flag CPCs shall effectively fulfil their duty to control their fishing vessels to ensure compliance with CMMs;
(d)
fishing vessels to be chartered shall be registered in the IOTC record referred to in Article 24 and shall be authorised to operate in the Area;
(e)
if the chartered vessel is allowed by the chartering CPC to operate in the high seas, the flag CPC shall be responsible for controlling the high seas fishing conducted pursuant to the chartering arrangement;
(f)
chartered vessels shall report VMS and catch data to both the chartering CPC and flag CPC, and to the IOTC Secretariat, as provided in the Charter Notification Scheme set out in Annex 6;
(g)
all catches, including bycatches and discards, taken pursuant to the chartering agreement shall be counted against quota or fishing possibilities of the chartering CPC; the observer coverage on board such chartered vessels shall be counted against the coverage rate of the chartering CPC for the duration of its fishing activity under the chartering agreement;
(h)
the chartering CPC shall report to the IOTC all catches, including bycatches and discards, and other information required by the IOTC;
(i)
chartered vessels shall be duly equipped with VMS, and fishing gear shall be marked for effective fishery management;
(j)
observer coverage of at least 5 % of fishing effort;
(k)
chartered vessels shall have a fishing licence issued by the chartering CPC and shall not be on the IOTC IUU vessel list, that of any other regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO), or on the Union IUU vessel list;
(l)
chartered vessels shall not be authorised to use the quota of the flag CPC, and under no circumstances shall chartered vessels be authorised to fish under more than one chartering agreement at the same time;
(m)
landing shall take place in the ports of the CPC, or under the direct supervision of CPC, in order to ensure that the activities of the chartered vessels do not undermine CMMs.
Chartering notification scheme
1. The chartering Member State shall notify the Commission of any vessel to be identified as chartered in accordance with this Article without delay within 15 days and no later than 72 hours before commencement of fishing activities under a chartering agreement, by submitting electronically the following information with respect to each chartered vessel:
(a)
the name (in both original registration language and Latin alphabets), registration number of the chartered vessel, and IMO number;
(b)
the name and contact address of the beneficial owner of the vessel;
(c)
the description of the vessel, including the overall length, type of vessel and the type of fishing method(s) to be used under the chartering agreement;
(d)
a copy of the chartering agreement and any fishing authorisation or licence it has issued to the vessel, including the quota allocation or fishing possibility assigned to the vessel, and the duration of the chartering arrangement;
(e)
its consent to the chartering agreement; and
(f)
the measures adopted to implement the provisions included in the chartering agreement.
2. The flag Member State shall notify the Commission of any vessel to be identified as chartered in accordance with this Article, without delay within 17 days and no later than 96 hours before commencement of fishing activities under a chartering agreement by submitting electronically the information with respect to each chartered vessel referred to in paragraph 1.
3. Upon receiving the information from Member States set out in paragraph 1 or 2, the Commission shall forward the following information to the IOTC Secretariat:
(a)
its consent to the chartering agreement;
(b)
the measures adopted to implement the provisions included in the chartering agreement; and
(c)
its agreement to comply with CMMs.
4. Member States referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall immediately inform the Commission of the start, suspension, resumption and termination of the fishing operations under the chartering agreement.
5. Member States chartering fishing vessels shall report to the Commission by 10 February of each year the particulars of chartering agreements made in the previous calendar year, including information on catches taken and fishing effort deployed by the chartered vessels as well as the level of observer coverage achieved on the chartered vessels in accordance with Article 35(1), point (j). The Commission shall forward that information to the IOTC Secretariat by 28 February of each year.
Vessels with no nationality
Where a Member State’s vessel or aircraft makes any sighting of fishing vessels that are suspected of, or confirmed as, being without nationality that may be fishing in the high seas of the Area, that Member State shall report the sighting to the Commission, or to a body designated by it. The Commission, or the body designated by it, shall forward the information to the IOTC Secretariat immediately.
Fishing vessels with flags of convenience
Member States shall, as regards large scale tuna longline vessels with flags of convenience (FOCs):
(a)
refuse landing and transhipment by flag of convenience vessels which are engaged in fishing activities diminishing the effectiveness of the measures laid down in this Regulation or measures adopted by the IOTC;
(b)
take every possible action to urge their importers, transporters and other operators concerned to refrain from transacting in and transhipping tunas and tuna-like species caught by vessels carrying out flag of convenience fishing activities;
(c)
inform their general public of fishing activities which are carried out by large scale tuna longline vessels with FOCs and which diminish the effectiveness of IOTC conservation and management measures, and urge their general public not to purchase fish harvested by such vessels;
(d)
urge their manufacturers and other business people concerned to prevent their vessels and equipment or devices from being used for flag of convenience longline fishing operations; and
(e)
monitor and exchange information concerning flag of convenience fishing vessels activities, including the port sampling activities conducted by the IOTC Secretariat.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
