Council Regulation (EC) No 43/2009 of 16 January 2009 fixing for 2009 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, applicable in Community waters and, for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required

If not otherwise provided for, this Regulation shall apply to:

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the provisions of this Regulation, except point 4.2 of Annex III and footnote 1 to Annex XI, shall not apply to fishing operations conducted solely for the purpose of scientific investigations which are carried out with the permission and under the authority of the Member State whose flag the vessel is flying and of which the Commission and the Member States in whose waters the research is carried out have been informed in advance. Member States conducting fishing operations for the purpose of scientific investigations shall inform the Commission, the Member States in whose waters the research is carried out, ICES and STECF of all catches from such fishing operations.

The catch limits for Community vessels in Community waters or in certain non-Community waters and the allocation of such catch limits among Member States and additional conditions in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 are set out in Annex I.

Community vessels are hereby authorised to make catches, within the quota limits set out in Annex I, in waters falling within the fisheries jurisdiction of the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway, and the fishing zone around Jan Mayen, subject to the conditions set out in Articles 11, 20 and 21.

The Commission shall fix the catch limits for the fisheries on sandeel in ICES zones IIIa and IV and EC waters of ICES zone IIa according to the rules laid down in point 6 of Annex IID.

The Commission shall fix catch limits for capelin in Greenland waters of ICES zones V and XIV available to the Community at 7,7 % of the capelin TAC as soon as the TAC has been established.

Catch limits for the stock of Norway pout in ICES zone IIIa and in EC waters of ICES zones IIa and IV and for the stock of sprat in EC waters of ICES zones IIa and IV may be revised by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 in the light of scientific information collected during the first half of 2009.

The Commission may fix the catch limits for the stock of anchovy in ICES zone VIII in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 in the light of scientific information collected during the first half of 2009.

As a consequence of a revision of the stock of Norway pout in accordance with paragraph 5, the catch limits for the stocks of whiting in ICES zone IIIa and ICES zone IV and EC waters of ICES zone IIa and for the stocks of haddock in ICES zone IIIa and EC waters of ICES zones IIIb, IIIc and IIId and in ICES zone IV and EC waters of ICES zone IIa may be revised by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 to take into account industrial by-catches in the Norway pout fishery.

The allocation of fishing opportunities among Member States as set out in Annex I shall be without prejudice to:

For the purpose of withholding quotas to be transferred to 2010, Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 847/96 shall apply, by way of derogation from that Regulation, to all stocks subject to analytical TAC.

From 1 February 2009 to 31 January 2010, the fishing effort limitations and associated conditions laid down in:

For the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 January 2009 for the stocks mentioned in paragraph 1, the fishing effort and associated conditions laid down in Annexes IIA, IIB, IIC and IID to Regulation (EC) No 40/2008 shall continue to apply.

The Commission shall fix the fishing effort for 2009 for the fisheries on sandeel in ICES zones IIIa and IV and in EC waters of ICES zone IIa based on the rules laid down in points 4 and 5 of Annex IID.

Member States shall ensure that for 2009 the fishing effort levels, measured in kilowatt days absent from port, by vessels holding deep-sea fishing permits do not exceed 65 % of the average annual fishing effort deployed by the vessels of the Member State concerned in 2003 on trips when deep-sea fishing permits were held and/or deep-sea species, as listed in Annexes I and II to Regulation (EC) No 2347/2002, were caught. This paragraph shall apply only to fishing trips on which more than 100 kg of deep sea species, other than greater silver smelt, were caught.

Fish from stocks for which catch limits are established shall be retained on board or landed only if:

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the following fish may be retained on board and landed even if a Member State has no quotas or the quotas or shares are exhausted:

All landings shall count against the quota or, if the Community share has not been allocated between Member States by quotas, against the Community share, except for catches made under the provisions of paragraph 2.

The determination of the percentage of by-catches and their disposal shall be made in accordance with Articles 4 and 11 of Regulation (EC) No 850/98.

Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1434/98 concerning the prohibition to retain herring on board under certain circumstances shall not apply to herring caught in ICES zones IIIa, IV and VIId and EC waters of ICES zone IIa.

When catch limits of a Member State for herring in ICES zones IIIa, IV and VIId and EC waters of ICES zone IIa are exhausted, vessels flying the flag of that Member State, registered in the Community and operating within the fisheries to which the relevant catch limitations apply, shall be prohibited from landing catches which are unsorted and which contain herring.

Member States shall ensure that an adequate sampling programme is in place allowing an efficient monitoring of unsorted landings by species caught in ICES zones IIIa, IV and VIId and EC waters of ICES zone IIa.

Unsorted catches in ICES zones IIIa, IV and VIId and EC waters of ICES zone IIa shall be landed only at ports and landing locations where a sampling programme as referred to in paragraph 3 is in place.

Fishing by fishing vessels flying the flag of Norway or registered in the Faroe Islands shall be limited to those parts of the 200 nautical mile zone lying seawards of 12 nautical miles from the baselines of Member States in ICES zone IV, the Kattegat and the Atlantic Ocean north of 43°00′N, except the area referred to in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002.

Fishing in the Skagerrak by fishing vessels flying the flag of Norway shall be allowed seawards of four nautical miles from the baselines of Denmark and Sweden.

Fishing by fishing vessels flying the flag of Venezuela shall be limited to those parts of the 200 nautical mile zone lying seawards of 12 nautical miles from the baselines of the Department of French Guyana.

The following Community vessels shall be exempt from the obligation to have a fishing authorisation, as set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, when they engage in fishing activities in Norwegian waters of the North Sea:

The maximum number of fishing authorisations and other associated conditions for Community vessels fishing in waters of a third country are set out in Part I of Annex IV.

If one Member State transfers quota to another Member State (swap) in the fishing areas set out in Part I of Annex IV, on the basis of Article 20(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002, the transfer shall include an appropriate transfer of fishing authorisations and shall be notified to the Commission. However, the total number of fishing authorisations for each fishing area, as set out in Part I of Annex IV, shall not be exceeded.

Community vessels shall comply with the conservation and control measures and all other provisions governing the zone in which they operate.

Fishing vessels of less than 200 GT flying the flag of Norway shall be exempt from the obligation to have a fishing authorisation, as set out in Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, when they engage in fishing activities in Community waters.

The fishing authorisation issued to third-country fishing vessel engaging in fishing activities in Community waters shall be kept on board. However, fishing vessels registered in the Faroe Islands or Norway shall be exempt from that obligation.

In addition to complying with any data transmission requirement laid down in accordance with Article 23(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, third-country fishing vessels shall keep a logbook in which the information set out in Part I of Annex V shall be entered.

When transmitting information in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, third-country fishing vessels shall transmit the information set out in Annex VI to the Commission, in accordance with the rules laid down in that Annex.

Paragraph 2 shall not apply to vessels flying the flag of Norway fishing in ICES zone IIIa.

In addition to the conditions set out in Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, the granting of fishing authorisations to fish in the waters of the Department of French Guyana shall be subject to an undertaking by the owner of the third-country fishing vessel concerned to permit an observer to come on board at the Commission's request.

In addition to complying with any data transmission requirement laid down in accordance with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1006/2008, third-country fishing vessels fishing in the waters of the Department of French Guyana shall keep a logbook corresponding to the model appearing in Part II of Annex V. Catch data shall be sent to the Commission upon request, via the French authorities.

In order to protect the dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), in particular small fish, the dolphinfish fisheries using fish aggregating devices (FADs) shall be prohibited from 1 January 2009 to 14 August 2009, in all geographical sub-areas of the GFCM Agreement area as set out in Annex VII.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, if a Member State can demonstrate that due to bad weather, the fishing vessels flying its flag were unable to utilise their normal fishing days that Member State may carry over days lost by its vessels in FAD fisheries until 31 January of the following year. Member States wishing to benefit from this carry over shall submit to the Commission before 1 January 2010 an application for the additional number of days on which a vessel will be authorised to fish dolphinfish by using FADs during the prohibition period from 1 January 2010 until 31 January 2010. Such an application shall be accompanied by the following information:

Member States shall send to the Commission before 1 November 2009 a report on the implementation of the measures referred to in paragraph 2 for the year 2008.

Member States shall report to the Commission by 15 January 2010 the total landings and transhipments of dolphinfish carried out in 2009 by the fishing vessels flying their flag in all geographical sub-areas of the GFCM Agreement area as set out in Annex VII.

Fishing with towed dredges and bottom trawl nets shall be prohibited in the areas bounded by lines joining the following coordinates:

Member States shall take the measures necessary for the protection of the deep-sea sensitive habitats in the areas referred to in paragraph 1 and in particular shall ensure that these areas are protected from the impacts of any other activity than fishing activity jeopardising the conservation of the features that characterise these particular habitats.

By way of derogation from Article 8(1)(h) and from point (2) of Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006, Member States may continue to authorise fishing vessels flying their flag the use of codend mesh size smaller than 40 mm diamond to operate in certain local and seasonal demersal trawl fisheries exploiting fish stocks that are not shared with third countries.

Paragraph 1 shall apply only to fishing activities formally authorised by Member States in accordance with national law in force on 1 January 2007 and shall not involve any future increase in fishing effort with respect to the year 2006.

Member States shall submit to the Commission by 15 January 2009, through the accustomed data-processing support, the list of vessels authorised in accordance with paragraph 1.

The list of authorised vessels shall include the following information:

Where the list of authorised vessels as referred to in paragraph 4 does not contain changes with respect to what was communicated in the year 2008, Member States shall inform the Commission by 15 January 2009 that no changes have occurred.

The Commission shall forward the information received from the Member States to the Executive Secretary of the GFCM.

Member States shall submit to the Executive Secretary of the GFCM, by 30 June 2009, the data of Task 1.1 and Task 1.2 of the GFCM statistical matrix as set out in Annex X.

Member States shall submit to the Executive Secretary of the GFCM, by 30 June 2009 and to the extent possible, the data of Tasks 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 of the GFCM statistical matrix as set out in Annex X.

Member States shall use the GFCM data-entry system as available at the GFCM web-site ([^E0044]) for the submission of data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Member States shall inform the Commission of the data submitted on the basis of this Article.

The master of a vessel authorised to fish for Greenland halibut in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2115/2005 shall, by electronic means, send to the competent authorities of his flag Member State a catch report stating the quantities of Greenland halibut caught by his vessel, including zero catch returns.

The report provided for in paragraph 1 shall for the first time be transmitted at the latest at the end of the tenth day following the date of the entry of the vessel into the NAFO Regulatory Area or after the beginning of the fishing trip. The report shall be transmitted on a five day basis. When catches of Greenland halibut notified in accordance with paragraph 1 are deemed to have exhausted 75 % of the flag Member States' quota allocation, the master of a vessel shall transmit the reports on a three day basis.

Each Member State shall upon receipt forward the catch reports to the Commission. The Commission shall promptly forward that information to the NAFO Secretariat.

Vessels authorised to fish for Greenland halibut in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2115/2005 may only enter into the NAFO Regulatory Area to fish for Greenland halibut if they have less than 50 tons of any catch on board or if access is permitted in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

Where a vessel authorised to fish for Greenland halibut in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2115/2005 has catches from outside the NAFO Regulatory Area of 50 tons or more on board, it shall communicate to the NAFO Secretariat, by e-mail or fax at the latest 72 hours prior to the entry (ENT) into the NAFO Regulatory area, the amount of catch retained on board, the position (latitude/longitude) where the master of the vessel estimates that the vessel will commence fishing, and the estimated time of arrival at the position.

If an inspection vessel, following the notification referred to in paragraph 2, signals its intention to carry out an inspection, it shall communicate the coordinates of a checkpoint for an inspection to take place to the fishing vessel. The checkpoint shall be no more than 60 nautical miles from the position where the master of the vessel estimates that the vessel will commence fishing.

If a fishing vessels authorised to fish for Greenland halibut in accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2115/2005 receives no communication from the NAFO Secretariat or from an inspection vessel, by the time it enters the NAFO Regulatory Area, that an inspection vessel intends to carry out an inspection in accordance with paragraph 3, the fishing vessel may proceed to fish. The fishing vessel may also commence fishing activities without prior inspection if the inspection vessel has not commenced the inspection within three hours following the arrival of the fishing vessel at the checkpoint.

By way of derogation from Article 28e(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93, the masters of all fishing vessels or their representatives, carrying fish referred to in Article 34 of this Regulation, intending to call into a port to land or tranship shall notify the competent authorities of the Member State of the port they wish to use at least three working days before the estimated time of arrival.

The notification referred to in paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by the form provided for in Part I of Annex IX with Part A duly completed as follows:

Masters of vessels or their representatives may cancel a prior notification by notifying the competent authorities of the port they wish to use at least 24 hours before the notified estimated time of arrival in the port. The notification shall be accompanied by a copy of the original FormPSC 1 or PSC 2 with the word ‘CANCELLED’ written across Part B.

The competent authorities of the port Member State shall forward a copy of the form as referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 without delay to the flag State of the fishing vessel, to the flag State(s) of donor vessels when the vessel has engaged in transhipment operations and to the NEAFC Secretary.

Landings or transhipments may only be authorised by the competent authorities of the port Member State if the flag State of the fishing vessel intending to land or tranship, or where the vessel has engaged in transhipment operations outside a port, the flag State or States of donor vessels, have confirmed by returning a copy of the form transmitted pursuant to Article 36(4) with Part B duly completed, that:

By way of derogation from paragraph 1 the competent authorities of the port Member State may authorise all or part of a landing in the absence of the confirmation referred to in paragraph 1 but shall in such cases keep the fish concerned in storage under their control. The fish shall only be released to be sold, taken over or transported once the confirmation referred to in paragraph 1 has been received. If the confirmation has not been received within 14 days of the landing the competent authorities of the port Member State may confiscate and dispose of the fish in accordance with national rules.

The competent authorities of the port Member State shall notify without delay its decision whether or not to authorise the landing or transhipment by transmitting a copy of the form provided for in Part I of Annex IX with Part C duly completed to the Commission and to the Secretary of NEAFC when the fish landed or transhipped is caught in the NEAFC Convention area.

The competent authorities of Member States shall carry out inspections of at least 15 % of landings or transhipments by third-country fishing vessels, referred to in Article 34, in its ports each year.

Inspections shall involve the monitoring of the entire discharge or transhipment and include a cross-check between the quantities by species recorded in the prior notice of landing and the quantities by species landed or transhipped.

Inspectors shall make all possible efforts to avoid unduly delaying a fishing vessel and ensure that the fishing vessel suffers the minimum interference and inconvenience and that degradation of the quality of the fish is avoided.

Each inspection shall be documented by completing an inspection report as set out in Part II of Annex IX.

A copy of each inspection report shall be transmitted without delay to the flag State of the inspected fishing vessel and to the flag State or States of donor vessels where the fishing vessel has engaged in transhipment operations and to the Commission and the Secretary of NEAFC when the fish landed or transhipped is caught in the NEAFC Convention Area.

The original or a certified copy of each inspection report shall be forwarded on request to the flag State of the inspected fishing vessel.

Direct fishing of the species set out in Annex X shall be prohibited in the zones and during the periods set out in that Annex.

For new and exploratory fisheries, the catch and by-catch limits set out in Annex XI shall apply in the Subareas set out in that Annex.

Fishing vessels flying the flag of, and registered in a Member State that have been notified to CCAMLR in accordance with the provisions of Articles 7 and 7a of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 may participate in long-line exploratory fisheries for Dissostichus spp. in Subareas FAO 88.1 and 88.2 as well as in Divisions 58.4.1, 58.4.2 and 58.4.3(b) outside areas of national jurisdiction.

No more than one fishing vessel shall fish in Division 58.4.3(b) at any one time.

With regard to Subareas FAO 88.1 and 88.2 as well as Divisions 58.4.1, 58.4.2 and 58.4.3(b) total catch and by-catch limits per Subarea and Division, and their distribution among Small Scale Research Units (SSRUs) within each of them shall be as set out in Annex XII. Fishing in any SSRU shall cease when the reported catch reaches the specified catch limit, and that SSRU shall be closed to fishing for the remainder of the season.

Fishing shall take place over as large a geographical and bathymetric range as possible to obtain the information necessary to determine fishery potential and to avoid over-concentration of catch and fishing effort. However, fishing in Subareas FAO 88.1 and 88.2 as well as in Divisions 58.4.1, 58.4.2 and 58.4.3(b) shall be prohibited in depths less than 550 m.

For the purposes of this Section, a haul shall comprise the setting of one or more lines in a single location. The precise geographic position of a haul shall be determined by the centre-point of the line or lines deployed for the purposes of catch and effort reporting.

To be designated as a research haul:

Fishing vessels participating in the exploratory fisheries referred to in Article 42 shall implement data collection plans, in each and all SSRUs in which Subareas FAO 88.1 and 88.2 as well as Divisions 58.4.1, 58.4.2 and 58.4.3(b) are divided. The Data Collection Plan shall comprise the following data:

All data referred to under paragraph 1 shall be collected for every research haul; in particular, all fish in a research haul up to 100 fish are to be measured and at least 30 fish sampled for biological studies. Where more than 100 fish are caught, a method for randomly subsampling the fish shall be applied.

Without prejudice to Article 7b of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 each longline vessel shall tag and release Dissostichus spp., continuously while fishing, at a rate specified in the conservation measure for that fishery according to the CCAMLR Tagging Protocol.

From the date of entry into force of this Regulation until the end of the 2008/2009 fishing season, each longline vessel shall tag and release skates, continuously while fishing, at a rate specified in the conservation measure for that fishery according to the CCAMLR Tagging Protocol. All tagged skates must be double-tagged and released alive.

All toothfish and skate tags for use in exploratory fisheries shall be sourced from the CCAMLR Secretariat.

Each fishing vessel participating in the exploratory fisheries referred to in Article 42 shall have at least two scientific observers, one of which shall be an observer appointed in accordance with the CCAMLR Scheme of International Scientific Observation, on board throughout all fishing activities within the fishing period.

Each Member State, subject to and in accordance with their applicable laws and regulations, including rules governing the admissibility of evidence in domestic courts, shall consider and act on reports from inspectors of designating CCAMLR Contracting Party under this scheme on the same basis as reports from its own inspectors and both Member State and designating CCAMLR Contracting Party concerned shall cooperate in order to facilitate judicial or other proceedings arising from any such report.

Only those Member States which are Members of the CCAMLR Commission may fish for krill in the CCAMLR Convention Area during the 2009/2010 fishing season. By way of derogation from Article 5a of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004, such Member States, if intending to fish for krill in the CCAMLR Convention Area, shall notify the CCAMLR Secretariat and the Commission, of their intention no later than 1 June 2009, immediately prior to the season in which they intend to fish, using the format laid down in Annex XII to this Regulation in order to ensure an appropriate review by the CCAMLR Commission before the vessels commence fishing as well as the net configuration form using the format laid down in Annex XIII.

The notification, referred to in paragraph 1 shall include the information provided for in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 for each vessel to be authorised by the Member State to participate in the krill fishery.

Member States intending to fish for krill in the CCAMLR Convention Area shall only notify vessels flying its flag at the time of the notification.

By way of derogation from paragraph 3, Member States shall be entitled to authorise participation in a krill fishery by a vessel other than that notified to CCAMLR in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 3, if the notified vessel is prevented from participation due to legitimate operational reasons or force majeure. In such circumstances Member States concerned shall immediately inform the CCAMLR Secretariat and the Commission, providing:

By way of derogation from paragraphs 3 and 4, Member States shall not authorise a vessel on either of the CCAMLR IUU Vessel Lists to participate in krill fisheries.

The total combined catch of krill in Statistical Sub areas 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4 shall be limited to 3,47 million tonnes in any fishing season. The total catch of krill in Statistical Division 58.4.2 shall be limited to 2,645 million tonnes in any fishing season.

Until an allocation of this total catch limit between smaller management units has been defined, based on the advice from the Scientific Committee, the total combined catch in Statistical Sub areas 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4 shall be further limited to 620 000 tonnes in any fishing season. The total catch in Division 58.4.2 shall be limited to 260 000 tonnes West of 55°E and 192 000 tonnes East of 55°E in any fishing season.

A fishing season shall begin on 1 December and end on 30 November of the following year.

Catches of krill shall be reported in accordance with Articles 11, 13 and 14 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004.

The operation of the krill fishery shall be carried out in accordance with Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 600/2004 of 22 March 2004 laying down certain technical measures applicable to fishing activities in the area covered by the Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources ([^E0046]).

Vessels shall use marine mammal exclusion devices on trawls.

When the total reported catch in any fishing season is greater than or equal to 80 % of the trigger level of 620 000 tonnes in Sub areas 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4 and of 260 000 tonnes west of 55°E and 192 000 tonnes east of 55°E in sub area 58.4.2, catches shall be reported in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004.

In the fishing season following that in which the total catch has been greater than or equal to 80 % of the trigger level, laid down in paragraph 2, catches shall be reported in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 when the total catch is greater than or equal to 50 % of that trigger level.

Member States shall report to the CCAMLR Executive Secretary, with a copy to the Commission, the total green weight of krill caught and lost.

At the end of each fishing season Member States shall obtain from each of its vessels the haul-by-haul data required to complete the ccamlr fine-scale catch and effort data form. It shall transmit those data, in the trawl fisheries form C1 of CCAMLR, to the CCAMLR Executive Secretary and to the Commission not later than 1 April of the following year.

For the purpose of this Article the following definition shall apply:

The use of gillnets in the CCAMLR Convention Area, for purposes other than scientific research, is prohibited until such time as the Scientific Committee has investigated and reported on the potential impacts of this gear and the Commission has agreed on the basis of advice from the Scientific Committee that such a method may be used in the CCAMLR Convention Area.

Proposal for the use of gillnets for scientific research in waters deeper than 100 meters shall be notified in advance to the Scientific Committee and be approved by the Commission before such research can commence.

Any vessel seeking to transit the CCAMLR Convention Area carrying gillnets must give advance notice of its intent, including the expected dates of its passage through the CCAMLR Convention Area to the CCAMLR Secretariat. Any vessel in possession of gillnets within the CCAMLR Convention Area which has not given such an advance notice, shall be deemed to be in breach of this provision.

Without prejudice to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 601/2004 vessels using exclusively the Spanish method of longline fishing shall release weights before line tension occurs.

The following weights may be used:

Vessels using exclusively the trotline method shall use weights only at the distal end of the droppers in the trotline. The weights shall be traditional weights of at least 6 kg or solid steel weights of at least 5 kg.

Vessels using both the Spanish method referred to in paragraph 1 and the trotline method referred to in paragraph 3 shall use:

Following notification by the CCAMLR Secretariat of the closure of a fishery, Member States shall ensure that all vessels flying their flag and fishing in the area, management area, subarea, division, small-scale research unit or other management unit, subject to the closure notice, shall remove all their fishing gear from the water by the notified closure date and time.

On receipt of such notification by the vessel, no further longlines may be set within 24 hours of the notified date and time. If such notification is received less than 24 hours before the closure date and time, no further longlines may be set following receipt of that notification.

In the case of closure of the fishery, all vessels shall depart from the fishing area as soon as all fishing gear has been removed from the water.

Where a vessel is unable to remove all its fishing gear from the water by the notified closure date and time for reasons relating to:

If paragraph 4 applies, Member States shall carry out an investigation of the vessel's actions and, according to its domestic procedures, report the CCAMLR Secretariat and the Commission of its findings, including all relevant matters, no later than the next CCAMLR meeting. The final report shall assess whether the vessel made all reasonable efforts to remove all its fishing gear from the water:

Where a vessel does not depart from the closed area as soon as all fishing gear has been removed from the water, the flag Member State or vessel shall inform the CCAMLR Secretariat and the Commission.

Member States shall submit electronically, where possible, to the Commission by 1 June 2009, the list of their vessels that are authorised to operate in the SEAFO Convention Area by issue of a fishing authorisation.

Owners of the vessels included in the list referred to in paragraph 1 shall be citizens or legal entities of the Community.

Fishing vessels may be authorised to operate in the SEAFO Convention Area only if they are able to fulfil in respect of those vessels the requirements and responsibilities under the SEAFO Convention and its conservation and management measures.

No fishing authorisation shall be issued to vessels that have a history of IUU fishing activities unless the new owners have provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that the previous owners and operators have no legal, beneficial or financial interest in, or control over those vessels, or that, having taken into account all relevant facts, their vessels are not engaged in or associated with IUU fishing.

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

Member States shall promptly notify the Commission, after the establishment of the initial list of authorised vessels, of any addition to, deletion from and/or any modification whenever such changes occur.

Vessels shall comply with all the relevant SEAFO conservation and management measures.

Authorised vessels shall keep on board valid certificates of vessel registration and valid authorisation to fish and/or tranship.

Member States shall take measures to prohibit the fishing for, the retaining on board, the transhipment and landing of species covered by the SEAFO Convention by the vessels which are not entered into the SEAFO record of authorised vessels.

Member States shall notify the Commission of any factual information showing that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting vessels not on the SEAFO record of authorised vessels to be engaged in fishing for and/or transhipment of species covered by the SEAFO Convention in the SEAFO Convention Area.

Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the owners of vessels included in the SEAFO record of authorised vessels are not engaged in or associated with fishing activities conducted by vessels not entered into the record of authorised vessels in the SEAFO Convention Area.

Community vessels which catch species covered by the SEAFO Convention in the SEAFO Convention Area shall only tranship in the port of a SEAFO Contracting Party if they have prior authorisation from the Contracting Party in whose port the operation will take place. Community vessels shall be permitted to carry out transhipments only if they have obtained such a prior authorisation to tranship from the flag Member State and the port State.

Each Member State shall ensure that its authorised fishing vessels obtain a prior authorisation to engage in in-port transhipments. Member States shall also ensure that the transhipments are consistent with the reported catch amount of each vessel and require the reporting of transhipments.

The master of a Community fishing vessel who transships to another vessel, hereinafter referred to as ‘the receiving vessel’, any quantity of catches of species covered by the SEAFO Convention fished in the SEAFO Convention Area shall at the time of the transshipment inform the flag State of the receiving vessel of the species and quantities involved, of the date of the transshipment and the location of catches and shall submit to his flag Member State a SEAFO transshipment declaration in accordance with the format set out in Part I of Annex XIV.

The master of the Community fishing vessel shall notify, at least 24 hours in advance, the following information to the SEAFO Contracting Party in whose port the transshipment will take place:

Not later than 24 hours before the beginning, and at the end of a transshipment when this takes place in a port of a SEAFO Contracting Party, the master of the Community flagged receiving vessel shall inform the competent authorities of the port State of the quantities of catches of species covered by the SEAFO Convention on board his vessel and transmit the SEAFO transshipment declaration to these competent authorities within 24 hours.

The master of the receiving Community vessel shall, 48 hours before landing, submit a SEAFO transshipment declaration to the competent authorities of the port State where the landing takes place.

Each Member State shall take the appropriate measures to verify the accuracy of the information received and shall cooperate with the flag State to ensure that landings are consistent with the reported catches amount of each vessel.

Each Member State with vessels authorised to fish in the SEAFO Convention Area for species covered by the SEAFO Convention, shall notify by 1 June 2009 to the Commission the details of the transshipments by its flag vessels.

No fishing shall resume in a closed fishing area referred to in Article 60 until the flag State has identified and mapped vulnerable marine ecosystems, including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold water corals in the area and made an assessment on the impact of any resumption of fishing on such vulnerable marine ecosystems.

The results of the identification, mapping and impact assessment carried out in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be submitted by the flag State to the Commission for transmission to the Annual Scientific Committee Meeting of SEAFO.

Member States may submit Research Fishing Plans to the Commission for evaluation of the impact of the fisheries on the sustainability of the fisheries resources and on vulnerable marine habitats.

All Community vessels fishing south of the parallel of latitude 30 degrees South shall carry and use bird-scaring lines (tori poles):

Longlines shall be set at night only (i.e. during the hours of darkness between the times of nautical twilight ([^E0047]). During longline fishing at night, only the minimum ship's lights necessary for safety shall be used.

The dumping of offal shall be prohibited while gear is being shot or set. The dumping of offal during the hauling of gear shall be avoided. Any such discharge shall take place, where possible, on the opposite side of the vessel to that where the gear is being hauled. For vessels or fisheries where there is no requirement to retain offal on board the vessel, a system shall be implemented to remove fish hooks from offal and fish heads prior to discharge. Nets shall be cleaned prior to shooting to remove items that might attract seabirds.

Community vessels shall adopt shooting and hauling procedures that minimise the time during which the net is lying on the surface with the meshes slack. Net maintenance shall, to the extent possible, not be carried out with the net in the water.

Community vessels shall be encouraged to develop gear configurations that will minimise the likelihood of birds encountering the part of the net to which they are most vulnerable. This may include increasing the weighting or decreasing the buoyancy of the net so that it sinks faster, or placing coloured streamer or other devices over particular areas of the net where the mesh sizes create a particular danger to birds.

Community vessels which are so configured that they lack on-board processing facilities or adequate capacity to retain offal on-board, or the ability to discharge offal on the opposite side of the vessel to that where gear is being hauled, shall not be authorised to fish in the SEAFO Convention Area.

Every effort shall be made to ensure that birds captured alive during fishing operations are released alive and that whenever possible hooks are removed without jeopardising the life of the bird concerned.

The master of a vessel authorised to fish for Patagonian Toothfish in the SEAFO Convention Area in accordance with Article 55 shall, by electronic means, send to the competent authorities of his flag Member State and the SEAFO Secretariat a catch report stating the quantities of Patagonian Toothfish caught by his vessel including nil returns. This report shall be sent every five days of the fishing trip. Each Member State shall promptly forward that information to the Commission.

Member States with vessels authorised to fish for Patagonian Toothfish in the SEAFO Convention Area shall provide detailed catch and effort data to the Commission, and the SEAFO Secretariat, no later than 30 June 2009.