Exploratory fisheries
Article 18
1. Member States shall not authorise fishing vessels flying their flag to fish in an exploratory fishery without prior authorisation from the SPRFMO. 2. Member States shall ensure that any fishing vessel flying their flag fishes only in an exploratory fishery in accordance with the Fisheries Operation Plan approved by the SPRFMO. 3. Member States shall ensure that the data required by the SPRFMO Data Collection Plan is provided to the Commission, which shall forward those data to the SPRFMO Secretariat. 4. Union fishing vessels authorised to participate in exploratory fisheries shall be prohibited from continuing to fish in the relevant exploratory fishery unless the data specified in the SPRFMO Data Collection Plan has been submitted to the SPRFMO Secretariat for the most recent season in which the fishing occurred and the SPRFMO Scientific Committee has had the opportunity to review that data. 5. Member States whose fishing vessels participate in exploratory fisheries shall ensure that each fishing vessel flying their flag carries one or more independent observers as needed to collect data in accordance with the SPRFMO Data Collection Plan.