Chapter IV, Article 26 · Regulation (EU) 2022/2056

Contents

Article 26Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)#

Union fishing vessels operating in the Convention Area shall use two monitoring systems:

(a)a VMS established in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and any act adopted pursuant thereto; and

(b)the VMS which receives data directly from Union fishing vessels operating on the high seas in the Convention Area, which is either administered by the WCPFC or reporting to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Forum Agency, and for the purposes of which Member States shall:

(i)ensure that their fishing vessels on the high seas in the Convention Area comply with the VMS requirements established by the WCPFC and are equipped with ALCs that shall communicate such data as determined by the WCPFC;

(ii)ensure that VMS equipment on their fishing vessels complies with standards, specifications and procedures for the fishing vessel monitoring in the Convention Area provided in Annex III;

(iii)cooperate to ensure compatibility between national and high seas VMSs;

(iv)ensure that the ALC installed on board their fishing vessels conform to the minimum standards set out in Annex III;

(v)ensure that the default position reporting rate is four hours while in the Convention Area (six position reports per day);

(vi)ensure that vessels that exit the Convention Area report their position once a day.

Defined terms · 19

Show every defined term

ALC
means a near real-time satellite position fixing transmitter;
authorised inspector
means an inspector of a contracting party to the Convention whose identity has been communicated to the WCPFC;
authorised Union inspector
means a Union inspector whose identity has been communicated to the WCPFC in accordance with any act adopted pursuant to Article 79(7) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009.
CMM
means the applicable Conservation and Management Measures adopted by the WCPFC;
discards
means catches that are returned to the sea;
Eastern High Seas Pocket
means the area of high seas bounded by the Exclusive Economic Zones of the Cook Islands to the west, French Polynesia to the east and Kiribati to the north with the geographical coordinates and as shown on the map set out in Annex V;
FAD
means any object or group of objects, of any size, that has or has not been deployed, that is living or non-living, including, but not limited to, buoys, floats, netting, webbing, plastics, bamboo, logs and whale sharks floating on or near the surface of the water that fish may associate with;
fishing
means:
fishing opportunities
means fishing quotas, fishing effort allocated to a Member State or closure periods, as provided for in a Union legal act in force for the Convention Area;
mobulid rays
means species of the family Mobulidae, which includes manta rays and mobula rays;
Record
means the WCPFC Record of Fishing Vessels;
ROP
means the Regional Observer Programme established by the WCPFC to collect verified catch data, other scientific data and additional information related to the fishery in the Convention Area, and to monitor the implementation of the CMMs;
shallow-set
means fisheries in which the majority of hooks are set at a depth shallower than 100 metres;
the Convention
means the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, as amended from time to time;
the Convention Area
means the area to which the Convention applies as described in Article 3(1) thereof;
Union fishing vessel
means any vessel flying the flag of a Member State, used or intended for use for the purpose of fishing, including support ships, carrier vessels and any other vessel directly involved in such fishing;
VMS
means a Vessel Monitoring System;
WCPFC
means the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission established under the Convention;
WIN
means the WCPFC identification number;