Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Added(c) designate a point of contact for the purposes of receiving inspection reports pursuant to Article 11(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008.

Added2. Member States shall transmit any changes to the list of designated points of contact and designated ports to the Commission at least 15 days before the changes take effect. The Commission shall forward that information to the IATTC Secretariat at least seven days before the changes take effect.

Added3. ▌Masters of fishing vessels shall facilitate safe access to the fishing vessel, cooperate with the competent authority of IATTC designated ports, facilitate the inspection and communication, and shall neither obstruct, intimidate or interfere, nor cause other persons to obstruct, intimidate or interfere, with port ▌ inspectors in the execution of their duties.

AddedArticle 7b Vessel monitoring system

Added1. Union fishing vessels shall ensure that the information collected by the vessel monitoring system (VMS) includes:

Added(a) the vessel’s identification;

Added(b) the vessel’s geographical position (latitude and longitude), with an error of less than 100 metres at a confidence level of 98 %;

Added(c) the date and time (UTC) of the fixing of the vessel’s position, and;

Added(d) the vessel’s speed and course.

Added2. The information referred in paragraph 1 shall be collected at least every four hours for longliners and every two hours for other vessels by the land-based fisheries monitoring centre (FMC) of the Member States.

Added3. VMS equipment installed on vessels shall, at a minimum, be tamper-evident (namely any attempts to tamper with the equipment will be detectable to the electronic monitoring service provider and the vessel owner, and reported to the respective vessel flag authority), fully automatic for regular position data reporting, always operational regardless of environmental conditions, and capable of manual transmission of reports and messages.

Added4. A Union fishing vessel shall not be authorised to commence a fishing trip with a defective satellite tracking device. When a device stops functioning or has a technical failure during a fishing trip lasting more than 30 days, a repair or replacement must take place as soon as the vessel enters a port.

Added5. In the event of ▌ a technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite tracking device fitted on board a fishing vessel that prevents the reception of two consecutive transmissions, the vessel’s master shall commence manual transmission in accordance with paragraph 6, and the device shall be repaired or replaced within 30 days. This shall apply only where the competent authorities have exhausted all reasonable steps to ensure transmissions, and where there is no second functioning satellite tracking device on board.

Added6. A Union fishing vessel with a defective satellite tracking device shall communicate to the FMC or relevant competent authority at a minimum every six hours, reports containing the information in paragraph 1 by appropriate telecommunication means for example radio, web-based reporting, electronic mail, telefax or telex).

AddedArticle 7c Electronic Monitoring Systems and Vessel Monitoring Plans

Added▌

Added1. Union fishing vessels shall apply the minimum technical requirements, performance standards and data requirements set out in Annexes VI and VII when implementing an electronic monitoring system (EMS) in the Convention area.

Added2. The minimum technical requirements, performance standards and data requirements set out in Annex VI shall be periodically reviewed by the Commission to accommodate technological advances and changes in priorities, as well as the particular requirements of vessels of various sizes, gears, and fishing practices.

Added3. The minimum technical requirements and performance standards, the activities that should be covered under EMS and captured by the camera(s), and general recommendations for configurations of EMS equipment are set out in Annex VI. Vessels or groups of vessels with similar designs observing those minimum technical requirements and performance standards shall have a Vessel Monitoring Plan (VMP) based on the vessel’s or vessels’ design and specifications.

Added4. EMS equipment shall automatically and autonomously collect EMS records to generate the required EM data, and shall be tamper-evident (namely any attempts to tamper with the equipment will be detectable to the EM service provider and the vessel owner and reported to the respective vessel flag authority). Both the mandatory minimum data fields that EMS shall collect, as well as optional data fields EMS may collect, for each vessel type are set out in Annex VII.

Added5. If a Member State intends to achieve fisheries data submission by EMS, it shall develop an EMS Vessel Monitoring Plan (VMP) for each vessel or group of vessels (for example all purse-seine, or all longline, or all longline of a certain size range) fishing for tuna or tuna-like species, on the basis of which EMS equipment is to be operated.

Added6. Vessels or groups of vessels with similar designs using EMS, observing the minimum standards set out under Annex VI and applying the IATTC minimum standards for EMS shall have a VMP based on the vessel’s or vessels’ design and specifications under Annex VI.

Added7. The VMP shall describe the configuration, components and installation of EMS equipment on each vessel, and that configuration shall be capable of collecting EMS records consistent with all relevant mandatory minimum standards and technical specifications in that plan. The requisite contents of the VMP are set out in Annex VIII. Member States may choose another format of VMP, provided it complies with the minimum requirements set out in Annex VIII, point 4.

Added8. A copy of the Member State approved VMP shall be maintained aboard each vessel at all times when EMS equipment is deployed to monitor the vessel’s activities.

Added9. Any modification to the VMP, including in relation to EMS equipment, shall be reported to the authority of the flag Member State of the vessel for approval.

Added10. Standards for storage and retention of EMS records, data retrieval and data review and reporting are set out in Annex IX.

Added11. The master of a Union fishing vessel with a VMP shall ensure that:

Added(a) in case the EMS equipment malfunctions, the malfunctioning is reported to the relevant authority of the flag Member State and, where appropriate, the provider as soon as possible;

Added(b) on-board physical access to the EMS equipment components is provided if requested by the authority of the flag Member State or any authorised personnel;

Added(c) in accordance with the VMP and the camera views capable of collecting the minimum data identified in this Regulation as set out in Annex VI, the cameras have an unobstructed view, and the lenses or lens covers are cleaned, as necessary;

Added(d) the handling of the catch and bycatch, to the extent practicable, allows electronic monitoring cameras an adequate view of the collection of the relevant data fields set out in Annex VI (for example species identification, catch composition, etc.);

Added(e) the transmission or retrieval of electronic monitoring records is carried out in accordance with the standards set out in Annex IX;

Added(f) unless authorised and instructed by the flag Member State or personnel authorised by that Member State, the EMS equipment is not tampered with (for example disconnecting the system, rearranging or obstructing the view of the cameras, disconnecting cameras or sensors, switching off the EMS equipment manually, intentionally breaking the system).

Added12. Member States that decide to implement EMS to collect fisheries data for submission to the IATTC Secretariat shall ensure that, prior to submitting EMS data to the IATTC Secretariat , vessels flying their flags meet the following mandatory elements of the EMS minimum standards and requirements:

Added(a) that Member State EM programmes are developed, and designed and implemented in a manner that ensures they are transparent, and the resulting data are verifiable in accordance with Annex IX;

Added(b) that the analysis of the EMS records in the synthesis of EM data is carried out by ▌ companies authorised by a Member State, or by ▌ institutions or ▌ authorities in Member States, having the necessary training, knowledge, skills and abilities to ensure effective EM records analysis and EMS data generation; this includes sufficiently accurate species identification;

Added(c) that the health status report of the EMS equipment on board each vessel under its jurisdiction is provided by the EMS service provider or by the EMS equipment itself;

Added(d) that rules and procedures are established for cases of EMS equipment failure, and that those rules and procedures are followed.

Added13. Member States shall provide to the Commission an EMS programme description detailing, at a minimum, the following information:

Added(a) the VMPs used in the programme;

Added(b) the responsibilities of fishing authorities and vessel owners, masters and crew with respect to installing and maintaining equipment, including routine cleaning of cameras, and responses to mechanical or technical failure of the EMS;

Added(c) protocols for data storage, retrieval and transfer in line with Annex IX;

Added(d) protocols for internal reporting and following-up on possible actions inconsistent with EMS standards that are detected, including rules and procedures in case of EMS equipment failure.

Added14. The Commission shall submit the EMS programme description to the IATTC Secretariat before the EM programme begins to submit data to the IATTC Secretariat . Member States shall report any changes to their EMS domestic programmes to the Commission. The Commission shall inform the IATTC Secretariat whenever such changes occur.

Added15. Member States that decide to implement EMS to collect fisheries data for submission to IATTC shall report to the IATTC Secretariat EMS data for each year collected in a manner consistent with the minimum standards set out in this Regulation, ▌ and in a manner consistent with data reporting deadlines ▌ or by the end of the following year, using the formats and guidelines described in Annexes VI, VII and IX ▌ .

Added16. Member States that decide to implement EMS to collect fisheries data for submission to IATTC shall submit by 15 March ▌ of each year a fleet-level summary of the VMPs to the Commission describing the implementation of their EM programme(s) in the previous year, including, at a minimum, the number of vessels implementing EMS by gear and fishery type; the range of EMS configurations implemented within the fleet; a general description of EMS requirements placed upon vessel masters and crews by the Member State; the percentage of coverage levels achieved by fishery and gear type; details on how those coverage levels were calculated; and, where appropriate, information on compliance monitoring. The Commission shall submit to the IATTC Secretariat by 30 March of each year the report on the implementation of EM programme(s) in the previous year.’;

Added(7) Article 10 is replaced by the following:

Added‘Article 10 Silky sharks

Added1. It shall be prohibited to retain on board, tranship, land, store, sell or offer for sale any part of or whole carcass of silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) caught by purse-seine vessels in the Convention area.

Added2. Union purse-seine vessels shall release live silky sharks whenever possible.

Added3. If silky sharks are unintentionally caught and frozen as part of purse-seine vessel operations, and if the governmental authorities are present at the point of landing, the whole silky shark shall be surrendered to them. If the governmental authorities are unavailable, the whole silky shark surrendered shall not be sold or bartered, but may be donated for purposes of domestic human consumption. Silky sharks surrendered in this manner shall be reported to the IATTC Secretariat.

Added4. Longline vessels that catch sharks incidentally shall limit bycatch of silky sharks to a maximum of 20 % of the total catch by fishing trip in live weight. The multi-species fisheries using surface longlines (in which the majority of hooks fish at depths shallower than 100 metres and target species other than swordfish) shall limit the catch of silky sharks of less than 100 cm total length to 20 % of the total number of silky sharks caught during the trip.

Added5. For those multi-species fisheries using surface longlines whose bycatch of silky sharks of less than 100 cm total length exceeds 20 % of silky sharks by weight on average in a year, Member States shall prohibit the use of steel leaders during a period of three consecutive months each year. The average proportion of silky sharks in the catch shall be calculated from data of the previous calendar year.

AddedThis paragraph shall also apply to new vessels entering the multi-species fisheries and to vessels for which no data are available from the immediately preceding period.

Added6. Union fishing vessels of less than 12 metres in length overall using manually operated fishing gear (namely without mechanical or hydraulic winches) and which do not deliver to motherships at any time during the fishing trip are excluded from the application of this Article.

Added7. Member States shall notify to the Commission, before 15 September of each year, the single period of restricted use of steel leaders referred to in paragraph 5 which shall be observed for the calendar year. The Commission shall, before 1 October of each year, notify the IATTC Secretariat accordingly.

Added8. Member States shall require the collection and submission of catch data for silky sharks, in accordance with IATTC data reporting requirements. Member States shall also record, through observer programmes and other means, the number and status (dead or alive) of silky sharks caught and released by purse-seine vessels of all capacity classes, and report those data to the IATTC Secretariat .

Added9. Union fishing vessels shall not fish in silky shark pupping areas identified by the IATTC in accordance with the recommendation of the IATTC scientific staff. The Commission shall transmit the information about silky shark pupping areas to the Member States. The Member States shall make that information available to the operators of fishing vessels flying their flag.’;

Added(8) Article 12 is replaced by the following:

Added‘Article 12 Safe release of sharks