Reduction of sea-birds by-catch
Article 80
1. Member States shall collect all available information on interactions with seabirds, including incidental catches by their fishing vessels and shall transmit that information to the ICCAT Secretariat and the Commission. 2. Member States shall seek to achieve reductions in levels of seabird by catch across all fishing areas, seasons, and fisheries through the use of effective mitigation measures. 3. Community vessels fishing south of 20 o S shall carry and use bird-scaring lines (tori poles) according to following technical provisions: (a) tori poles shall meet the conditions on the tori pole design and be in accordance with the deployment guidelines adopted by ICCAT; (b) tori lines are to be deployed prior to longlines entering the water at all times south of 20 o S; (c) where practical vessels shall use a second tori pole and bird-scaring line at times of high bird abundance or activity; (d) back-up tori lines shall be carried by all vessels and be ready for immediate use. 4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, Community longline vessels targeting swordfish may use monofilament longline gear, provided that these vessels: a) set their longlines during the period between nautical dusk/dawn as laid down in the nautical dusk/dawn almanac for the geographical position fished; b) use a minimum swivel weight of 60 g placed not more than 3 m from the hook to achieve optimum sink rates.