Council Decision 2012/653/EU

Contents

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43 paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 218(5) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,Whereas:

(1)On 28 June 2007, the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 753/2007^note concerning the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule Government of Greenland^note (‘the Agreement’). A Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and the financial contribution provided for by the Agreement^note (‘the current Protocol’) was attached thereto. The current Protocol will expire on 31 December 2012.

(2)The Union has negotiated with the Government of Denmark and the Government of Greenland a new Protocol to the Agreement setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution (‘the Protocol’).

(3)On the conclusion of those negotiations, the new Protocol was initialled on 3 February 2012.

(4)In order to allow EU vessels to carry on fishing activities, Article 12 of the Protocol provides for it to be applied provisionally from 1 January 2013.

(5)The Protocol should be signed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 #

The signing of the Protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community on the one hand, and the Government of Denmark and the Home Rule Government of Greenland, on the other hand (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Protocol’), is hereby authorised on behalf of the Union, subject to the conclusion of the said Protocol.The text of the Protocol is attached to this Decision.

Article 2 #

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Protocol on behalf of the Union.

Article 3 #

The Protocol shall be applied on a provisional basis as from 1 January 2013, pending the completion of the procedures for its conclusion.

Article 4 #

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

Conditions governing fishing activities by eu vessels in the greenlandic eez

Chapter I — application for and issue of fishing authorisations (licences)

Conditions for the exercise of fishing activities by EU vessels in the Greenlandic EEZ

A. Fishing authorisation application and issuing formalities

1.Only eligible vessels may obtain a fishing authorisation to fish in the Greenlandic EEZ and/or under Greenlandic quota in international waters.

2.For a vessel to be eligible, neither the owner, the master nor the vessel itself shall be prohibited from fishing in the Greenlandic EEZ. They shall be in order with the Greenlandic authorities insofar as they shall have fulfilled all prior obligations arising from their fishing activities in Greenland or within the Greenlandic EEZ under the fisheries agreements concluded with the EU.

3.Applications shall be made on the forms provided for that purpose by Greenland, specimens of which are attached at Appendix 1. Each fishing authorisation application shall be accompanied by proof of payment of the fee for the fishing authorisation’s term of validity. The fees shall include all national and local charges related to access to fishing activities as well as fees imposed by banks for transfers of money. In case a vessel has not paid the bank transfer fee this amount will be required to be paid with the next fishing authorisation application of this vessel and is a precondition for the issuing of a new fishing authorisation.EU vessels of the same ship owner or agent may submit a collective application for a fishing authorisation provided that these vessels fly the flag of one and the same Member State. Each fishing authorisation issued under a collective application shall indicate the total quantity of specimen for which the fishing authorisation fee has been paid and shall carry the footnote ‘authorised quantity to be shared by the vessels…(names of each vessel listed on the collective application)’.The EU authorities shall present to the Greenlandic authorities the (collective) application for any fishing authorisation(s) of each vessel wishing to fish under the Agreement.The Greenlandic authorities are entitled to suspend an existing fishing authorisation or not to issue a new fishing authorisation if an EU vessel has not fulfilled the requirements of transmitting relevant logbook sheets and landing declarations to the Greenlandic authorities in accordance with the catch reporting arrangements.

4.As soon as this Protocol starts to apply, the Greenlandic authorities shall communicate, all information concerning the bank accounts to be used for the payment of the fee.

5.Fishing authorisations shall be issued for specific vessels and shall not be transferable, subject to the provisions of paragraph 6. Fishing authorisations shall indicate the authorised quantity to be caught and retained on board. An amendment of any of the authorised quantities indicated in the fishing authorisation(s) shall be subject to a new application. In the case where a vessel exceeds any authorised quantity indicated in its fishing authorisation, it shall pay a fee equivalent to three times the amount provided for in Part B 3, for the quantity in excess of the authorised quantity. No new fishing authorisation shall be issued to that vessel as long as the fees corresponding to the exceeded quantities are not paid.

6.However, in a limited number of cases and at the request of the European Commission, a vessel’s fishing authorisation may be replaced by a new fishing authorisation for another vessel with characteristics similar to those of the first vessel. The new fishing authorisation shall indicate:

(a)the date of issue,

(b)the fact that it invalidates and replaces the fishing authorisation of the previous vessel.

7.Fishing authorisations shall be transmitted by the Greenland Fisheries Authority to the European Commission within 15 working days of receipt of the application.

8.The original fishing authorisation or a copy of it shall be held on board at all times and be presented at any time on request of the competent Greenlandic authorities.

B. Validity of Fishing authorisations and Payment

1.Fishing authorisations shall be valid from the date of issue to the end of the calendar year in which the fishing authorisation has been issued. They shall be issued within 15 working days of receipt of the application following payment of the required fishing authorisation fees per year for each vessel.As far as the capelin fishery is concerned, fishing authorisations shall be issued from 20 June to 31 December and also including 1 January to 30 April of the following year.In case EU legislation fixing the fishing opportunities for a given year for EU vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required, has not been adopted by the beginning of the fishing year EU fishing vessels authorised to fish on 31 December in the previous fishing year may continue their activities on the same fishing authorisation in the year for which legislation has not been adopted provided that scientific advice allows for this. A provisional use of 1/12th of the quota indicated in the fishing authorisation of the previous year, per month, will be allowed provided that the applicable fishing authorisation fee is paid for the quota. The provisional quota may be adjusted in relation to the scientific advice and the conditions of the specific fishery.The unused quantity of a fishing authorisation for Northern Prawn, at 31 December of a given year, may be transferred, on request, to the following year to a maximum of 5 % of the original quantity of the fishing authorisation, if scientific advice allows for that transfer. The quantity transferred shall be used by 30 April of the following year.A fishing authorisation fee shall not be paid for by-catches.

Chapter II — fishing zones

1.The fishery shall take place within the fishing zone as defined as the Greenlandic Exclusive Economic Zone as provided for in the Regulation No. 1020 of 15 October 2004 in accordance with Royal Decree No. 1005 of 15 October 2004 on the Entry Into Force of Act on Exclusive Economic Zones for Greenland entering into force Act No. 411 of 22 May 1996 on Exclusive Economic Zones.

2.The fishery shall take place at least 12 nautical miles off the baseline according to § 7 Section 2 of Act No. 18 of 31 October 1996 on Fisheries issued by the Landsting of Greenland as most recently amended by the Inatsisartut Act No. 8 of 22 November 2011 unless specifically provided otherwise.

3.The baseline is defined in accordance with Royal Decree No. 1004 of 15 October 2004 on Amendment of Royal Degree on Delimitation of the territorial Waters of Greenland.

Chapter III — catch reporting

A. Catch Reporting and fishing logbook

1.Masters of EU fishing vessels fishing under the Agreement shall keep a fishing logbook of their operations indicating all quantities of each species caught and kept on board or discarded above 50 kg live weight equivalent.

10.Upon entry into force of the Protocol, in parallel with ERS, and for a transitional period of one year, EU fishing vessels operating under the Agreement shall complete and submit paper format Greenlandic logbooks.

2.The fishing logbook shall be completed by the master on a haul-by-haul basis indicating all catches and discards related to each haul for each day the EU fishing vessel is operating under a Greenlandic fishing authorisation. The information shall be recorded and transmitted daily no later than 2359 UTC by electronic means to the Greenlandic authorities via the Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) of the Flag Member State. The format to be used for the completion and transmission of electronic fishing logbook data shall be agreed between both Parties before the entry into force of the Protocol by the Joint Committee.

3.The master shall also record and transmit fishing logbook data on receipt of a request from an official of the competent Greenlandic authority.

4.On the occasion of any transhipment operation or landing whilst within the Greenlandic EEZ, the master shall also record and transmit by electronic means transhipment and landing declaration data to the Greenlandic authorities via the FMC of the flag Member State within 24 hours of completion of the transhipment or landing operation.

5.The master shall be responsible for the accuracy of the fishing logbook data recorded and transmitted. The master and/or his representative shall be responsible for the accuracy of the transhipment and landing declaration data recorded and transmitted.

6.Without prejudice to paragraph 10, an EU fishing vessel shall not be allowed to leave port to fish under the Agreement without a fully operational electronic catch reporting system (ERS) installed on board.

7.Without prejudice to paragraph 10, EU fishing vessels which do not record and transmit fishing logbook data by electronic means shall not be permitted to fish within the Greenlandic EEZ.

8.In the event of:

(a)a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system fitted on board an EU fishing vessel, the master of the fishing vessel or his representative shall, starting from the time that the event was detected or from the time that he was otherwise informed, communicate fishing logbook data as appropriate, to the Greenlandic competent authorities via the FMC of the flag Member State, by alternative telecommunications means on a daily basis and no later than 2359 UTC even when there are no catches.

(b)a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system, in addition to the fishing logbook data, transhipment declaration and landing declaration data as appropriate shall also be communicated, if any of the following situations arise:

(i)at the request of the competent authorities of Greenland and/or the Flag Member State;

(ii)immediately after the last fishing operation;

(iii)before entering into port;

(iv)at the time of any inspection at sea;

(v)as may be required by Greenlandic legislation.

Prior notification shall also be sent in the cases referred to in points (i) and (iii);

(c)Following a technical failure or non-functioning of the electronic recording and reporting system on board, an EU fishing vessel may only leave port once the electronic recording and reporting system fitted is fully operational to the satisfaction of the Greenlandic competent authorities and the FMC of the flag State, or is otherwise authorised to leave by the competent authorities of Greenland. Without prejudice to paragraph 6 above, the Greenlandic authorities shall immediately notify the FMC of the flag Member State and the EU authorities if they have authorised an EU fishing vessel to leave port without a fully operational electronic recording and reporting system on board.

9.The removal of the electronic recording and reporting system for repair or replacement shall be subject to the approval of the Greenlandic competent authorities whilst within the Greenlandic EEZ.

B. Non-receipt of catch data

1.When the Greenlandic competent authorities do not receive electronic catch, transhipment or landing declaration data transmissions in accordance with Section A above, they shall immediately notify the FMC of the flag Member State and the EU authorities. Upon receipt of this notification the FMC of the flag Member State shall immediately notify the master and the ship owner, and shall without further delay take action to rectify the situation. If, in respect of a particular EU fishing vessel, such a situation occurs more than three times within a period of a calendar year, the Greenlandic authorities may require the EU authorities to ensure that the FMC of the flag Member State undertakes a thorough investigation concerning the repeated failure of the electronic recording and reporting system fitted on board. The FMC of the flag Member State shall establish why data have not been received and shall take action to rectify the situation, and shall inform the Greenlandic FMC and the EU authorities of their findings and the cause of the failure.

2.Immediately upon receipt of a notification from the FMC of the flag Member State, the master of the EU fishing vessel shall send all data which have not yet been transmitted by alternative telecommunication means to the competent Greenlandic authorities via the FMC of the flag Member State. Thereafter data shall be communicated daily and no later than 2359 UTC by the alternative telecommunication means.

C. Format for exchange of information

1.The XML standard to be used for all electronic data exchanges between the two parties and, where appropriate, shall be that available on the Europa website:http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/control/codes/index_en.htm.

2.Any amendments to the format referred to in paragraph 1 shall be clearly identified and marked with the date it was updated. Both parties shall inform each other of any intended changes in due time. Such amendments shall not come into force earlier than 6 months after they have been decided.

3.Electronic data exchanges between the two parties and, where appropriate the EU authorities, shall be facilitated by using the means of communication managed by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union.

Chapter IV — technical conservation measures

EU fishing vessels shall be provided by Greenland with an English language version of relevant Greenlandic legislation concerning catch reporting, control, technical conservation measures and observer scheme.

Chapter V — control

The following measures shall apply to EU fishing vessels operating in Greenlandic EEZ without prejudice to the Greenlandic legislation.

A. Inspection at sea

1.The inspection of EU fishing vessels at sea within the Greenlandic EEZ shall be carried out by authorised inspectors. Inspection vessels shall be clearly marked in accordance with international convention and inspectors issued with a form of identity which they shall present to the master at the earliest opportunity during an inspection. Officials shall not interfere with the right of the master to communicate with the competent authorities of his flag Member State.

2.The master of a fishing vessel which is being inspected or his representative shall:

(a)facilitate safe and effective boarding of officials in accordance with good seamanship when the appropriate signal of the International Code of Signals is given or when the intention to board is established through radio communication by a vessel or helicopter carrying an official;

(b)facilitate the officials to perform their inspection duties, providing such assistance as is requested and is reasonable;

(c)permit the official(s) to communicate with the Greenlandic authorities;

(d)alert officials to particular safety hazards on board EU fishing vessels;

(e)provide access by officials to all areas of the vessel, all processed or unprocessed catches, all fishing gears and all relevant information and documents;

(f)facilitate safe disembarkation by officials on completion of the inspection.

3.Greenlandic inspectors shall remain on board the EU vessel for the time necessary to carry out inspection tasks. They shall carry out the inspection in a way which minimises the impact on the vessel, its fishing activity and cargo.

4.Masters shall not be required to reveal commercially sensitive information over open radio channels.

5.At the end of each inspection, Greenlandic inspectors shall communicate their findings to the master and draw up an inspection report. The master of the EU fishing vessel shall have the right to comment in the inspection report. The inspection report shall be signed by the relevant inspector and the master of the EU fishing vessel if he/she so wishes.

6.The Greenlandic inspectors shall issue a copy of the inspection report to the master of the EU fishing vessel before leaving the vessel. Greenland shall notify the EU authorities of the inspection within 8 working days. After receipt of the notification and upon receiving a request from the EU authorities a copy of the inspection report shall be transmitted by Greenland to the EU authorities within 8 working days. Where appropriate this information shall be made available to the relevant Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs).

B. Inspection in port

1.The inspection in a port of Greenland of EU fishing vessels which land or tranship their catch shall be carried out by Greenlandic inspectors who are clearly identified as being assigned to carry out fishing checks.

2.The port inspections will be carried out in accordance with FAO measures and Port State measures of the relevant RFMOs.

3.Greenland may authorise the EU to participate in the inspection in port as an observer.

4.The master of the EU fishing vessel shall co-operate to facilitate the Greenlandic inspectors to carry out their work.

6.The Greenlandic inspectors shall issue a copy of the inspection report to the master of the EU vessel before leaving. Greenland shall transmit a copy of the inspection report to the EU authorities within 8 working days following the inspection.

Chapter VI — control observer scheme

A. Observer scheme

Any fishing operations in the Greenlandic EEZ are subject to the observer scheme provided for under the Greenlandic law. Masters of EU fishing vessels holding a fishing authorisation to fish within the Greenlandic EEZ shall cooperate with the Greenlandic authorities for the purpose of embarking of observers on board.

B. Observer’s salary

The salary and social contributions of the observer shall be borne by the competent Greenlandic authorities.

C. Observer’s obligations

1.take all appropriate measures so as not to interrupt or hinder fishing operations;

2.respect on-board property and equipment;

3.respect the confidential nature of any document belonging to the vessel.

Whilst they are on board observers shall:

D. Observer’s report

1.Before leaving the vessel, the observer shall submit a report of his observations to the master of the vessel. The master of the vessel shall have the right to make comments in the observer’s report. The report shall be signed by the observer and the master. The master shall receive a copy of the observer’s report.

2.The competent Greenlandic authorities shall notify the EU authorities about this disembarkation of the observer within 8 working days. After receipt of the notification and upon receiving a request from the EU authorities a copy of the observer’s report shall be transmitted by Greenland to the EU authorities within 8 working days.

Chapter VII — vessel monitoring system (vms)

Conditions On Issues related to Satellite Tracking of Fishing Vessels

1.With regard to the satellite tracking monitoring system any fishing vessels holding a fishing authorisation applicable in the waters of the other Party, shall comply with all the following provisions.

10.Secure communication of the position messages between FMC’s

(a)The FMC of the Flag State shall automatically send the position messages of the vessels concerned to the FMC of the party in whose waters the vessel is.

(b)The FMC’s of both parties shall exchange their coordinates e.g. e-mail addresses, fax, telex and telephones, and inform each other without any delay of any change to these coordinates.

(c)The transmission of position messages between the FMCs concerned and the Flag States shall be carried out electronically by HTTPS protocol. The exchange of certificates shall take place between Greenlandic authorities and relevant Flag State FMC.

(d)The FMCs of the European Union shall be the Flag State FMC in terms of communicating messages from the European Union to Greenland. For the purpose of communicating such reports and messages from Greenland to the European Union, the European Union FMC shall be the FMC of the Member State in whose waters the vessel is or has been operating. The FMC of Greenland is established at the Controlling Unit of Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture (Greenland Fisheries Licence Control Authorities) in Nuuk.

(e)The FMC of those waters where the vessel is in a given moment shall inform the FMC of the Flag State and the European Commission of any interruption in the receiving of consecutive position messages from a vessel holding a fishing authorisation, where the vessel concerned has not notified its departure from the EEZ.

11.Malfunction of the communication system

(a)Greenland shall ensure the compatibility of its electronic equipment with that of the FMC’s of the Flag States and inform the EU immediately of any malfunction as regards the communication and receiving of position messages with a view to finding a technical solution as soon as possible.

(b)Communication failures between FMC’s shall not affect the operation of the vessels.

(c)All non-transmitted messages during the downtime, shall be forwarded as soon as the communication is re-established between the FMC’s concerned.

12.The master of the fishing vessels holding a fishing authorisation shall be considered to be responsible for any proven manipulation of the vessel’s VMS system aimed at disturbing its operation or falsifying its position messages. Any infringement shall be subject to the penalties provided for by the party in whose waters the infringement took place and according to the legislation in force of that party.

13.Under no circumstances shall tracking data communicated to the other Party in accordance with this Agreement be disclosed to authorities, other than control and monitoring authorities, in such a way that individual vessels can be identified.

14.Without prejudice to previous paragraph, VMS data may be used for scientific or research purposes provided that users do not publish this data in such a way that individual vessels can be identified.

2.All vessels holding a fishing authorisation shall be equipped with a fully operational satellite-tracking device installed on board, to enable automatic and continuous communication of their geographical coordinates, to the fishing monitoring centre (FMC) of their flag state. The frequency of transmission shall be on an hourly basis.

3.Each position message shall:

(a)contain:

(i)the vessel identification;

(ii)the most recent geographical position of the vessel (longitude, latitude), with a position error of less than 500 metres, and with a confidence interval of 99 %;

(iii)the date and time the position is recorded;

(iv)the speed and the course of the vessel;

(b)and be configured in accordance with the attached format at Appendix 2.

4.The first position recorded after entry into the EEZ of the other party is identified by the code ‘ENT’. All subsequent positions shall be identified by the code ‘POS’, with the exception of the first position recorded after departure from the waters of the other party, which shall be identified by the code ‘EXI’.

5.The FMC of the Flag State shall ensure the automatic processing and, if necessary, the electronic transmission of the position messages. The position messages shall be recorded in a secure manner and kept for a period of three years.

6.The Vessel Monitoring System hardware and software components shall be tamper proof, i.e. shall not permit the input or output of false positions and shall not be capable of being manually over-ridden. The system shall be fully automatic and operational at all times regardless of environmental conditions. It shall be prohibited to destroy, damage, render inoperative or otherwise interfere with the satellite-tracking device. In particular, the masters shall ensure at all times that:

(a)the VMS system of his vessel is fully operational and that the position messages are correctly transmitted to the FMC of the Flag State.

(b)data are not altered in any way;

(c)the antenna or the antennas connected to the satellite tracking devices are not obstructed in any way;

(d)the power supply of the satellite tracking devices is not interrupted in any way; and

(e)the satellite tracking devices are not removed from the vessel.

7.It shall be prohibited for a fishing vessel to enter the other party’s EEZ without a fully operational satellite tracking device, otherwise the Greenlandic authorities, are entitled to suspend with immediate effect the fishing authorisation of that fishing vessel. The Greenlandic authorities shall provide notice without delay to the vessel concerned. The EU authorities and the Flag State shall be notified of the suspension of fishing authorisations by the Greenlandic authorities without any delay.

8.Transmission by the vessel in the event of breakdown of the VMS system.

(a)In the event of breakdown of the VMS system of the vessel, it shall be repaired or replaced within 30 calendar days, after notification to the master of the fishing vessel and to its Flag State. The EU authorities shall be notified on the fact as soon as possible.

(b)During the period above mentioned, the vessel shall be required to start reporting manually his position, in accordance with Chapter VII, paragraph 3 above, by e-mail or fax to the FMC of the Flag State and to the FMC of the party where the vessel is. The frequency of this manual transmission shall be at least one position every 4 hours.

(c)After that period, the vessel shall no longer be authorised to undertake fishing activities in the Greenlandic EEZ.

9.When the satellite tracking device has transmitted hourly messages with the same geographical position for more than 4 hours, a position message containing the activity code ‘ANC’, as described in the attached format, shall be sent. Such position messages may be transmitted with a frequency of once every 12 hours. Within less than 1 hour after the position has changed, the hourly reporting frequency will resume.

Chapter VIII — infringements

A. Treatment of infringements

1.Any infringement committed in the Greenlandic EEZ by an EU fishing vessel holding a fishing authorisation in accordance with the provisions of this Annex shall be mentioned in an inspection report.

2.The signature of the inspection report by the master shall be without prejudice to the master’s and/or ship owner’s right of defence in respect of an infringement.

B. Information on Detention of a vessel

Greenland shall notify the EU within 24 hours of any detention of an EU fishing vessel holding a fishing authorisation. This notification shall be accompanied by brief details of the infringement.

C. Penalties for infringements

The penalty for the infringement shall be set by Greenland according to the provisions of the national legislation in force.

D. Legal proceeding – Bank security

1.When an infringement is brought before the competent court, the ship owner of the EU fishing vessel which committed the infringement shall deposit a bank security at a bank designated by Greenland, the amount of which, as set by Greenland, covers the costs linked to the detention of the EU fishing vessel, the estimated fine and any compensation. The bank security may not be recovered until the legal proceedings have been concluded.

2.The bank security shall be released and returned to the ship owner without delay after the judgment has been given:

(a)in full, if no penalty has been imposed;

(b)for the amount of the remaining balance, if the penalty is a fine which is lower than the amount of the bank security;

3.The legal proceedings shall open as soon as possible according to the national law;

4.Greenland shall inform the EU of the outcome of the legal proceedings within 14 days following the judgement.

E. Release of the vessel and the crew

The EU fishing vessel shall be authorised to leave port once the bank security has been deposited or once the penalty has been paid.

Chapter IX — temporary joint ventures

A. Methods and criteria for project assessment for temporary joint ventures and joint enterprises

The Parties shall exchange information on the projects presented for the formation of temporary joint ventures and joint enterprises according to Article 2 of the Agreement.

The projects shall be presented to the EU via the competent authorities of the Member State or Member States concerned.

(a)technology appropriate to the proposed fishing operations;

(b)target species and fishing zones;

(c)age of the vessel;

(d)in case of temporary joint ventures, the total duration and that of fishing operations;

(e)previous experience of the EU ship owner and any Greenlandic partner in the fisheries sector.

The EU shall submit to the Joint Committee a list of projects concerning temporary joint ventures and joint enterprises. The Joint Committee shall assess the projects in accordance inter alia with the following criteria:

The Joint Committee shall issue an opinion on the projects following the assessment under paragraph 3.

In the case of temporary joint ventures, once the projects have received a favourable opinion from the Joint Committee, following the approval of the Greenlandic authorities, the necessary fishing authorisations shall then be issued.

B. Conditions concerning access to resources of temporary joint ventures in Greenland

1. Fishing authorisations

The fishing authorisations to be issued by Greenland shall have a validity equal to the duration of the temporary joint ventures. Fishing shall take place on quotas allocated by the Greenlandic authorities.

2. Replacement of vessels

An EU vessel operating under a temporary joint venture may be replaced by another EU vessel with equivalent capacity and technical specifications only on duly justified grounds and with the agreement of the parties.

3. Fitting-out

Vessels operating under temporary joint ventures shall comply with the rules and regulations applicable in Greenland regarding fitting-out, which regulation shall be applied without discrimination between Greenland and EU vessels.

Chapter X — experimental fisheries

Details of implementation for experimental fisheries

1.The Government of Greenland and the European Commission shall jointly decide on the European Union operators, the most suitable time as well as the arrangements for the implementation of experimental fisheries. In order to facilitate the exploratory work of the vessels, the Government of Greenland (through the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources) shall provide existing scientific and other basic information.

10.The Greenlandic authorities will designate a contact person responsible for addressing any unforeseen problems that might hinder the development of the experimental fisheries.

11.The Greenlandic authorities will prior to the commencement of each campaign present the details and conditions of the experimental fishing campaigns in accordance with Article 9 and 10 of the Agreement and in accordance with Greenlandic law.

2.The Greenland fishing industry shall be closely associated (co-ordination and dialogue on the arrangements for experimental fisheries).

3.The length of the campaigns shall be for a maximum of six months and a minimum of three months. Following the agreement of the Parties these periods may be changed.

4.The European Commission shall communicate to the Greenlandic authorities the requests for fishing authorisations for experimental fishery. A technical dossier specifying:

(a)the technical characteristics of the vessel;

(b)the level of expertise on the fishery of the ship officers;

(c)the proposal for the technical parameters of the campaign (length, gear, exploration regions etc.)

5.Where necessary, the Greenlandic authorities shall organise a technical dialogue between the Parties and the ship-owners concerned.

6.Before the beginning of the campaign, the vessel owners shall submit to the Greenlandic authorities and to the European Commission:

(a)a declaration of the catches already on board;

(b)the technical characteristics of the fishing gear to be used for the campaign;

(c)an assurance that they will comply with the Greenland Regulations for fisheries;

7.During the campaign at sea, the owners of the vessels concerned shall:

(a)provide the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, the Greenlandic authorities and the European Commission with a weekly report on catches per day and by haul, including the description of the campaign’s technical parameters (position, depth, date and time, catches and other observations or comments);

(b)communicate the vessel’s position, speed and heading by VMS;

(c)ensure the presence on board of one Greenlandic scientific observer or an observer chosen by the Greenlandic authorities. The role of the observer will be to gather scientific information from the catches, as well as to sample the catches. The observer shall be treated as a ship’s officer and the vessel-owner shall cover the living costs of the observer during his stay on the vessel. The decision on the observer’s time on board, the length of his stay, the boarding and landing harbour will be fixed in agreement with the Greenlandic authorities;

(d)submit the vessels to inspection on leaving the Greenlandic EEZ if the Greenlandic authorities so request;

(e)ensure that they comply with the Greenland Regulations for fisheries;

8.The catches consistent with and obtained during the experimental campaign remain the property of the vessel-owner.

9.The catches consistent with the experimental campaign shall be established by the Greenlandic authorities prior to the commencement of each campaign and made available to the master of the vessel(s) concerned.

Appendices to this annex

1.Appendix 1Application form for a fishing authorisation2.Appendix 2Entry/exit notification form3.Appendix 3Flexibility scheme in the pelagic redfish fishery between Greenlandic and NEAFC waters

Appendix 1

APPLICATION FORM FOR A FISHING AUTHORISATION IN THE GREENLANDIC EEZ
1	Flag State
2	Name of Vessel
3	EU Fleet Register Number
4	External identification letters and number
5	Port of registration
6	International Radio call Sign (IRCS)
7	Inmarsat Number (Telephone, Telex, Email)^note
8	Year of Building
9	IMO number (if available)
10	Type of Vessel
11	Type of fishing gear
12	Target Species + Quantity
13	Fishing area (ICES/NAFO)
14	Time period for a fishing authorisation
15	Owners, Address of natural or legal person, Telephone, Telex, Email
16	Vessel operator, Address of natural or legal person, Telephone, Telex, Email
17	Name of Master
18	Number of crew members
19	Engine power (KW)
20	Length (L.O.A.)
21	Tonnage in GT
22	Representative (agent) in Greenland, Name and address
23	Address to where the fishing authorisation should be mailed	European Commission, Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Fax +32 2 2962338 Email MARE-LICENCES@ec.europa.eu

Appendix 2

Entry/exit notification form

Format for Communication of VMS messages to the FMC of the other Party

1) ENTRY message

Data Element:	Field Code:	Mandatory/Optional	Remarks:
Start Record	SR	M	System detail; indicates start of record
Address	AD	M	Message detail; destination Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
From	FR	M	Message detail; the transmitting Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
Record Number	RN	O	Message detail; serial number of the record in the relevant year
Record Date	RD	O	Message detail; date of transmission
Record Time	RT	O	Message detail; time of transmission
Type of Message	TM	M	Message detail; message type, ‘ENT’
Radio Call Sign	RC	M	Vessel detail; international radio call sign of the vessel
Internal Reference Number	IR	M	Vessel detail. Unique Party vessel number as Alfa-3 ISO flag country code followed by number
External Registration Number	XR	O	Vessel detail; the side number of the vessel
Latitude	LT	M	Position detail; position ± 99.999 (WGS-84)
Longitude	LG	M	Position detail; position ± 999.999 (WGS-84)
Speed	SP	M	Position detail; Vessel speed in tenths of knots
Course	CO	M	Position detail; Vessel course 360° scale
Date	DA	M	Position detail; UTC date of position (YYYYMMDD)
Time	TI	M	Position detail; UTC time of position (HHMM)
End of Record	ER	M	System detail; indicates end of the record

2) POSITION message/report

Data Element:	Field Code:	Mandatory/Optional	Remarks:
Start Record	SR	M	System detail; indicates start of record
Address	AD	M	Message detail; destination Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
From	FR	M	Message detail; the transmitting Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
Record Number	RN	O	Message detail; serial number of the record in the relevant year
Record Date	RD	O	Message detail; date of transmission
Record Time	RT	O	Message detail; time of transmission
Type of Message	TM	M	Message detail; message type, ‘POS’^note
Radio Call Sign	RC	M	Vessel detail; international radio call sign of the vessel
Internal Reference Number	IR	M	Vessel detail. Unique Party vessel number as Alfa-3 ISO flag country code followed by number
External Registration Number	XR	O	Vessel detail; the side number of the vessel
Latitude	LT	M	Position detail; position ± 99.999 (WGS-84)
Longitude	LG	M	Position detail; position ± 999.999 (WGS-84)
Activity	AC	O^note	Position detail; ‘ANC’ indicating reduced reporting mode
Speed	SP	M	Position detail; Vessel speed in tenths of knots
Course	CO	M	Position detail; Vessel course 360° scale
Date	DA	M	Position detail; UTC date of position (YYYYMMDD)
Time	TI	M	Position detail; UTC time of position (HHMM)
End of Record	ER	M	System detail; indicates end of the record

3) EXIT message

Data Element:	Field Code:	Mandatory/Optional	Remarks:
Start Record	SR	M	System detail; indicates start of record
Address	AD	M	Message detail; destination Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
From	FR	M	Message detail; the transmitting Party Alfa-3 ISO country code
Record Number	RN	O	Message detail; serial number of the record in the relevant year
Record Date	RD	O	Message detail; date of transmission
Record Time	RT	O	Message detail; time of transmission
Type of Message	TM	M	Message detail; message type, ‘EXI’
Radio Call Sign	RC	M	Vessel detail; international radio call sign of the vessel
Internal Reference Number	IR	M	Vessel detail. Unique Party vessel number as Alfa-3 ISO flag country code followed by number
External Registration Number	XR	O	Vessel detail; the side number of the vessel
Date	DA	M	Position detail; UTC date of position (YYYYMMDD)
Time	TI	M	Position detail; UTC time of position (HHMM)
End of Record	ER	M	System detail; indicates end of the record

4) Format details

—double slash (//) and the character ‘SR’ indicates the start of a message,

—a double slash (//) and field code indicates the start of a data element,

—a single slash (/) separates the field code and the data,

—pairs of data are separated by space

—the character ER and a double slash (//) indicate the end of the record.

Each message in a data transmission is structured as follows:

All field codes in this Annex are in The North Atlantic Format as described in The NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement.

Appendix 3

Flexibility scheme in the pelagic redfish fishery between greenlandic and neafc waters

To be eligible to fish under the flexibility scheme in the redfish fishery between Greenlandic and NEAFC waters a vessel shall apply for a Greenlandic flexibility fishing authorisation. Subject to approval of the application, the vessel will receive a specific fishing authorisation for activities outside Greenlandic EEZ.

All measures concerning this fishery in the NEAFC regulatory area decided upon by NEAFC shall be observed.

A vessel may only fish its Greenlandic redfish quota once it has exhausted its share of the EU NEAFC redfish quota allocated by its Flag State.

A vessel may fish its Greenlandic quota within the same NEAFC area, where its NEAFC quota has been caught, subject to paragraph 5 below.

A vessel may fish its Greenlandic quota within the redfish conservation area (RCA) under the conditions as set out in the NEAFC recommendation on the management of redfish in the Irminger sea and adjacent waters, but excluding any part which lies within the EEZ of Iceland.

A vessel carrying out fishing activities in the NEAFC Regulatory Area shall transmit a VMS position report to NEAFC via its Flag State FMC in accordance with regulatory requirements. Whilst fishing on the Greenlandic quota within the NEAFC RCA the Flag State FMC shall specifically arrange for the results of hourly polling of the vessel’s VMS position report to be transmitted to the Greenland FMC in near real time.

Master of the vessel shall ensure that when reporting to NEAFC and the Greenlandic authorities, redfish catches which have been caught in the NEAFC regulatory area under the Greenlandic flexibility fishing authorisation are clearly identified as counting against the Greenlandic quota by using the fishing authorisation allocated in the flexibility fishing authorisation.

(i)ACTIVE ‘CATCH ON ENTRY’

(ii)Name of vessel

(iii)External registration ID

(iv)IRCS

(v)Name of master

(vi)Date and time of commencing fishing operations on Greenlandic quota

(vii)Position

(viii)Catch on board in species live weight equivalent and area of capture.

(a)

Before commencing to fish on its Greenlandic quota, a vessel shall transmit an ACTIVE ‘CATCH ON ENTRY’ message to the Greenlandic FMC through its Flag State FMC as follows:

(b) DAILY CATCH REPORT

The fishing logbook data shall be transmitted daily by no later than 2359 UTC.

(i)PASSIVE ‘CATCH ON EXIT’

(ii)Name of vessel

(iii)External registration ID

(iv)IRCS

(v)Name of master

(vi)Date and time of stopping of its fishing activities on the Greenlandic quota

(vii)Position

(viii)Catch on board in species live weight equivalent and area of capture.

(c)

On stopping of its fishing activities on the Greenlandic quota, a vessel shall transmit an PASSIVE ‘CATCH ON EXIT’ message to the Greenlandic FMC through its Flag State FMC as follows:

Both ACTIVE and PASSIVE reports shall be transmitted without prejudice to the daily catch reporting obligation.

To enhance the protection of the areas of larval extrusion, fishing activities shall not commence prior to the date set out in the NEAFC recommendation on the management of redfish in the Irminger sea and adjacent waters.

The Flag State shall report catches taken under the Greenlandic quota in Greenlandic waters and in the NEAFC regulatory area to the EU authorities. This shall include all catches taken under the flexibility scheme clearly identifying the catch and corresponding fishing authorisation.

10.

At the end of the fishing season each Flag State FMC shall transmit to the Greenlandic authorities catch statistics on the pelagic redfish fishery under this flexibility scheme.

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