Access to the sampling sites
Article 12
1. Member States shall ensure that, in order to carry out their duties, data collectors designated by the body in charge of the implementation of the national work plan have access to all catches, vessels and other sampling sites, business registers and any necessary data. 2. The masters of Union fishing vessels shall accept on board scientific observers and cooperate with them in order to allow them to discharge their duties while on board Union fishing vessels, as well as the use of alternative data collection methods, where appropriate, set out in national work plans, without prejudice to international obligations. 3. The masters of Union fishing vessels may refuse to accept on board the scientific observers operating under the at-sea monitoring scheme only on the basis of an obvious lack of space on the vessel or for safety reasons in accordance with national law. In such cases, data shall be collected through alternative data collection methods which are set out in the national work plan and designed and controlled by the body in charge of the implementation of the national work plan.