Seabird mitigation measures for trawlers
Article 10
1. All Union fishing vessels using trawl gear shall be subject to the seabird mitigation measures set out in this Article. 2. Union fishing vessels shall deploy two tori lines while fishing, or, if the operational practices prevent the effective deployment of tori lines, a bird baffler. 3. Bird bafflers shall be rigged in accordance with Annex III. 4. Where possible, Union fishing vessels shall be prohibited from discharging offal during shooting and hauling. 5. Where possible and appropriate, Union fishing vessels shall convert offal into fish meal and retain all waste material with any discharge restricted to liquid discharge/sump water. Where that is not possible and appropriate, fishing vessels shall batch waste for two hours or longer. 6. Where possible, nets shall be cleaned after every fishing operation to remove entangled fish and benthic material to discourage interactions with birds during gear deployment. 7. The time the net is on the water surface during hauling shall be minimised through proper maintenance of winches and good deck practices.