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;

(g) ‘fattening’: raising of individuals in cages to increase their weight or fat content with a view to marketing;

(h) ‘caging’: placing of wild individuals of any size in closed structures (cages) for fattening;

(i) ‘fattening farm’: enterprise which raises wild individuals in cages for fattening;

(j) ‘transport vessel’: vessel receiving wild individuals and transporting them live to fattening farms.

CHAPTER I

CONTROL AND INSPECTION MEASURES APPLICABLE IN ZONE 1

Section 1

Control measures

Article 4a

Activities of vessels participating in operations relating to bluefin tuna fattening

Each master of a Community vessel that transfers bluefin tuna for fattening to a transport vessel shall enter in his logbook:

— quantity of bluefin tuna transferred and the number of fish,

— catch zone,

— date and position of transfer of bluefin tuna,

— name of transport vessel, its flag, registration number and international radio call sign,

— name(s) of fattening farm(s) of destination of the quantity of bluefin tuna transferred.

Each master of a transport vessel to which bluefin tuna have been transferred shall enter:

(a) quantity of bluefin tuna transferred per fishing vessel and the number of fish;

(b) the name of the vessel that caught the quantities referred to in a), together with its flag, registration number and international radio call sign;

(c) date and position of transfer of bluefin tuna;

(d) name(s) of fattening farm(s) of destination of bluefin tuna.

For exports and imports of bluefin tuna intended for fattening Member States shall send the Commission the numbers and dates of the statistical documents indicated in Council Regulation (EC) No 1984/2003 of 8 April 2003 introducing a system for the statistical monitoring of trade in bluefin tuna, swordfish and bigeye tuna within the Community (¹) validated by them and state the third country of destination declared.

Article 4b

Activities of bluefin tuna fattening farms

The marketing declaration for bluefin tuna fattened indicated in paragraph 2 must give the following information:

— name of farm,

— address,

— owner,

— quantity of bluefin tuna (in tonnes) marketed in previous year,

— destination of tuna (name of purchaser, country, date of sale),

— for exports and imports, numbers and dates of validation of statistical documents indicated in Regulation (EC) No 1984/2003,

— duration of fattening of tuna marketed (in months), where possible,

— average size of tuna marketed.

On the basis of the declaration submitted under paragraphs 1 and 3 Member States shall electronically notify to the Commission by 1 August each year:

— the quantities of bluefin tuna caged during the previous year,

— the quantities of bluefin tuna marketed during the previous year.

Article 4c

Register of bluefin tuna fattening farms

The list referred to in paragraph 1 shall give the following information:

— name of farm, its national registration number,

— location of farm,

— capacity of farm (in tonnes).

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

— Bluefin tuna: Thunnus thynnus

— 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 Ia

ANNEX II

Latin name	English name
Thunnus thynnus	Bluefin tuna
Thunnus maccoyii	Southern bluefin tuna
Thunnus albacares	Yellowfin tuna
Thunnus alalunga	Albacore
Thunnus obesus	Bigeye tuna
Thunnus atlanticus	Blackfin tuna
Euthynnus alletteratus	Atlantic black skipjack
Katsuwonus pelamis	Skipjack
Sarda sarda	Atlantic bonito
Auxis thazard	Frigate tuna
Orcynopsis unicolor	Plain bonito
Acanthocybium solandri	Wahoo
Scomberomorus maculatus	Spotted Spanish mackerel
Scomberomorus cavalla	King mackerel
Istiophorus albicans	Atlantic sailfish
Makaira indica	Black marlin
Makaira nigricans	Atlantic blue marlin
Tetrapturus albidus	Atlantic white marlin
Xiphias gladius	Swordfish
Tetrapturus pfluegeri	Spearfish
Scomberomorus tritor	West African Spanish mackerel
Scomberomorus regalis	Cero
Auxis rochei	Bullettuna
Scomberomorus brasiliensis	Serra Spanish mackerel

ANNEX III

Regulation (EC) No 1351/1999	This Regulation
Articles 1, 2, 3	Article 8
Article 4	Article 18
Article 5	Article 17

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.