Council Regulation (EC) No 1936/2001 of 27 September 2001 laying down control measures applicable to fishing for certain stocks of highly migratory fish

Article 1

Purpose

This Regulation lays down control and inspection measures relating to fishing for stocks of the highly migratory fish species listed in Annex I to this Regulation and shall apply to vessels flying the flag of Member States and registered in the Community, (hereinafter referred to as Community fishing vessels), operating in one of the zones specified in Article 2.

Article 2

Zones

For the purposes of this Regulation the following marine zones are specified:

(a) Zone 1: All waters of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas included in the ICCAT Convention area specified in Article I of that Convention.

(c) Zone 3: All Eastern Pacific Ocean waters included in the area specified in Article III of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Programme.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘boarding’: the boarding of a fishing vessel within an organisation's area of competence by one or more authorised inspectors in order to make an inspection;

(b) ‘transhipment’: unloading of any quantity of highly migratory fish and/or products from such fish from on board a fishing vessel to another vessel either at sea or in port, without the products having been recorded by a port State as landed;

(c) ‘landing’: unloading of any quantity of highly migratory fish and/or products from such fish from on board a fishing vessel to port or to land;

(d) ‘infringement’: any presumed act committed or omitted by a fishing vessel that is recorded in an inspection report and gives serious reason for suspecting a breach of the provisions of this Regulation or any other Regulation transposing a recommendation adopted by a regional organisation for one of the zones indicated in Article 2;

(e) ‘vessel of a non-Contracting Party’: vessel observed and identified as engaged in fishing activities in one of the zones specified in Article 2 that is flying the flag of a country that is not a Contracting Party to the relevant regional organisation;

(f) ‘stateless vessel’: vessel for which there are reasonable grounds for suspecting it to be without nationality.

CHAPTER I

CONTROL AND INSPECTION MEASURES APPLICABLE IN ZONE 1

Section 1

Control measures

Section 2

Port inspection procedures

Section 3

Stateless and non-contracting parties' vessels

CHAPTER II

CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE MEASURES APPLICABLE IN ZONE 2

SECTION 1

Control measures

SECTION 2

Port inspection procedures

SECTION 3

Stateless vessels and vessels of non-contracting parties

CHAPTER III

CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE MEASURES APPLICABLE IN ZONE 3

Article 22

General

Each Member State shall take the action necessary in order that vessels flying its flag respect the IATTC measures transposed into Community law and the International Dolphin Conservation Programme Agreement measures applicable.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 23

The measures necessary for the implementation of Article 4(2), Article 5(3), Article 6(2), Article 8(6) and Article 9(2) shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

Article 24

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 25

Article 26

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

— Albacore: Thunnus alalunga

— Bigeye tuna: Thunnus obesus

— Skipjack: Katsuwonus pelamis

— Atlantic bonito: Sarda sarda

— Yellowfin tuna: Thunnus albacares

— Blackfin tuna: Thunnus atlanticus

— Little tuna: Euthynnus spp.

— Southern bluefin tuna: Thunnus maccoyii

— Frigate tuna: Auxis spp.

— Oceanic sea bream: Bramidae

— Marlin: Tetrapturus spp.; Makaira spp.

— Sailfish: Istiophorus spp.

— Swordfish: Xiphias gladius

— Sauries: Scomberesox spp.; Cololabis spp

— Dolphinfish; common dolphinfish: Coryphaena hippurus; Coryphaena equiselis.

— Shark: Hexanchus griseus; Cetorhinus maximus; Alopiidae; Rhincodon typus; Carcharhinidae; Sphyrnidae; Isuridae; Lamnidae

— Cetaceans (whales and porpoises): Physeteridae; Belaenopteridae; Balenidae; Eschrichtiidae; Monodontidae; Ziphiidae; Delphinidae.

ANNEX II

ANNEX III

ANNEX IV

ANNEX V

Catch and effort data

Surface fisheries: catch data in nominal catch weight and effort data in fishing days (purse seine, baitboat, troll, drift nets) should be provided to IOTC by 1° grid area and month strata. Purse seine fishery data should be stratified by type of school. Those data should preferably be extrapolated to the national monthly catches of each gear. The raising factors used, corresponding to the logbook coverage, should be given routinely to IOTC.

Longline fisheries: catch and effort data of the longline fisheries should be provided to the IOTC by 5° grid area and month strata, preferably in numbers and in weight. Fishing effort should be given in numbers of hooks. Those data should preferably be extrapolated to the national monthly catches. The raising factors used, corresponding to the logbook coverage, should be given routinely to IOTC.

The catches, efforts and sizes of the artisanal, small scale and sport fisheries should also be submitted on a monthly basis, but using the best geographical areas used to collect and process those data.

Size data

Considering that size data are of key importance for most tuna stock assessment, length data, including the total number of fish measured, should be routinely submitted to the IOTC on a 5° grid area and month basis, by gear and fishing mode (e.g. free/log schools for the purse seiners). Size data should be provided for all gears and for all species covered by IOTC. Size data sampling should preferably be run under strict and well described random sampling schemes which are necessary to provide unbiased figures for the sizes taken. The exact recommended level of sampling could vary between species (as a function of various parameters), but the specific level of recommended sampling needs to be established by the working party on statistics. More detailed size data, for instance size by individual samples, should also be made available to IOTC when requested by specific working groups, but under strict rules of confidentiality.

Fishing for tunas using floating objects, including fish aggregating devices (FADs)

For a better understanding by IOTC of changing patterns in effective fishing effort by fleets operating in its area of competence, more information has to be obtained. Since the activities of supply vessels and the use of fish aggregating devices (FAD) are an integral part of the fishing effort of the purse seine fleet, the following information should be routinely submitted to IOTC:

Number and characteristics of supply vessels: (i) operating under their flag, (ii) assisting purse seine vessels operating under their flag, or (iii) licensed to operate in their exclusive economic zones, and that have been present in the IOTC area of competence.

Levels of activity of supply vessels: including number of days at sea, on 1° grid area and month basis.

In addition, contracting parties and cooperating non-contracting parties shall do their best to provide data on the total number and type of fish aggregating devices (FADs) operated by the fleet, on a 5° grid area and month basis.

Timeliness of data submission to IOTC

It is essential that all fishery data be available to the IOTC Secretariat in due time to allow monitoring of stocks and analysis of the data. Thus it is recommended that the following rules be applied as standard obligations:

Surface fleets and other fleets operating in coastal zones (including supply vessels) must provide their fishery data at the earliest possible date but no later than 30 June each year (previous year's data).

Longline fleets operating on the high seas must provide the provisional fishery data at the earliest date, but no later than 30 June (previous year's data). They must provide the final estimate of their fishery data before 30 December each year (previous year's data).

The time limits presently allowed for submitting statistics could be reduced in the future as communication and data processing technologies become ever more rapid, which should reduce the present data processing delays.