Rules relating to marking of passive gear
Article 12
1. The master of a Union catching vessel, or their representative shall ensure that each passive gear carried on board or used for fishing is clearly marked and identifiable in accordance with the provisions of this Article. 2. Each passive gear used for fishing shall permanently display the external registration letters and number(s) shown on the hull of the catching vessel to which it belongs: (a) for nets, on a label attached to the upper first row, and on the footrope; (b) for lines, on a label on the mainline and on every float; (c) for traps, on a label attached to the trap itself and to the rope(s), and specifically for pots, on a label attached to the ground rope and on every pot; and (d) for passive gear extending more than 1 nautical mile, on labels attached in accordance with (a), (b) and (c) at regular intervals not exceeding 1 nautical mile, so that no part of the passive gear extending more than 1 nautical mile shall be left unmarked. 3. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, for catching vessels up to 15 metres in length overall fishing exclusively in the waters of their flag Member State and operating within four nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, that flag Member State may establish an alternative marking system for the identification of the catching vessel concerned.