Closed area for FAD fishing
Article 38
1. In the part of the WCPFC Convention Area located between 20° N and 20° S, fishing activities of purse-seine vessels making use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) shall be prohibited between 00:00 hours of 1 July 2016 and 24:00 hours of 31 October 2016. During that period, a purse-seine vessel may only engage in fishing operations within that part of the WCPFC Convention Area if it carries onboard an observer to monitor that at no time does the vessel: (a) deploy or service a FAD or associated electronic device; (b) fish on schools in association with FADs. 2. All purse-seine vessels fishing in the part of the WCPFC Convention Area referred to in paragraph 1 shall retain onboard and land or tranship all bigeye, yellowfin and skipjack tuna caught. 3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply in the following cases: (a) in the final set of a trip, if the vessel has insufficient well space left to accommodate all fish; (b) where the fish is unfit for human consumption for reasons other than size; or (c) when a serious malfunction of freezer equipment occurs.