Regulation (EU) 2022/2343

In force

This text since 18 Jan 2026law://eu/reg/2022/2343/art_35__para_1@2026-11-12

Contents

1.Chartering shall be subject to the following conditions:

(a)the flag CPC has consented in writing to the chartering agreement;

(b)the duration of the fishing operation under the chartering agreement does not exceed 12 months in any calendar year;

(c)fishing vessels to be chartered shall be registered with the responsible CPC which shall explicitly agree to comply with the CMMs and enforce them on their vessels; all flag CPCs shall effectively fulfil their duty to control their fishing vessels to ensure compliance with CMMs;

(d)fishing vessels to be chartered shall be registered in the IOTC record referred to in Article 24 and shall be authorised to operate in the Area;

(e)if the chartered vessel is allowed by the chartering CPC to operate in the high seas, the flag CPC shall be responsible for controlling the high seas fishing conducted pursuant to the chartering arrangement;

(f)chartered vessels shall report VMS and catch data to both the chartering CPC and flag CPC, and to the IOTC Secretariat, as provided in the Charter Notification Scheme set out in Annex 6;

(g)all catches, including bycatches and discards, taken pursuant to the chartering agreement shall be counted against quota or fishing possibilities of the chartering CPC; the observer coverage on board such chartered vessels shall be counted against the coverage rate of the chartering CPC for the duration of its fishing activity under the chartering agreement;

(h)the chartering CPC shall report to the IOTC all catches, including bycatches and discards, and other information required by the IOTC;

(i)chartered vessels shall be duly equipped with VMS, and fishing gear shall be marked for effective fishery management;

(j)observer coverage of at least 5 % of fishing effort;

(k)chartered vessels shall have a fishing licence issued by the chartering CPC and shall not be on the IOTC IUU vessel list, that of any other regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO), or on the Union IUU vessel list;

(l)chartered vessels shall not be authorised to use the quota of the flag CPC, and under no circumstances shall chartered vessels be authorised to fish under more than one chartering agreement at the same time;

(m)landing shall take place in the ports of the CPC, or under the direct supervision of CPC, in order to ensure that the activities of the chartered vessels do not undermine CMMs.

Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.

Key facts

Type: Regulation · (EU) 2022/2343
Adopted: 23 Nov 2022
In force: 22 Dec 2022
Text current to: 18 Jan 2026
Made by: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Official: EUR-Lex 32022R2343 · ELI

Topics

conservation of fish stocks fishing agreement fishing area fishing controls fishing rights Indian Ocean multilateral agreement sea fish sea fishing Fisheries policy

History · 1 version

18 Jan 2026Reading

Connections

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Cited by 4: this act2 provisions; Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1175 provisions; Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1474; Council Decision (EU) 2023/2901

Defined terms · 14

Show every defined term

AFAD
means a FAD tethered to the bottom of the ocean;
carrier vessel
means a support vessel engaged in transhipment and receiving IOTC species from another vessel;
chartering
means an agreement or an arrangement by which a fishing vessel flying the flag of a CPC is contracted for a defined period of time by an operator in another CPC without a change of flag;
chartering CPC
refers to the CPC that holds the quota allocation or fishing possibilities and the ‘flag CPC’ refers to the CPC in which the chartered vessel is registered;
CMM
means an applicable conservation and management measure adopted by the IOTC pursuant to Articles V(2)(c) and IX(1) of the Agreement;
data buoys
means floating devices, either drifting or anchored, that are deployed by governmental or recognised scientific organisations or entities for the purpose of electronically collecting and measuring environmental data, and not for the purpose of fishing activities;
DFAD
means a FAD not tethered to the bottom of the ocean;
e-PSM application
means the web-based application designed and developed to facilitate and assist a CPC to implement the IOTC resolutions related to port State measures;
FAD
means a permanent, semi-permanent or temporary object, structure or device of any material, man-made or natural, which is deployed and/or tracked for the purpose of aggregating target tuna species for consequent capture;
flag CPC
refers to the CPC in which the chartered vessel is registered;
the Agreement
means the Agreement for the establishment of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission;
the Area
means those parts of the Indian Ocean as defined in Article II of and Annex A to the Agreement;
unfit for human consumption
means a fish that is meshed or crushed in the purse seine, or is damaged due to depredation, or has died and spoiled in the net where a gear failure has prevented both the normal retrieval of the net and catch, and efforts to release the fish alive without including a fish that is considered undesirable in terms of size, marketability or species composition, or a fish that is spoiled or contaminated as the result of an act or omission of the crew of the Union fishing vessel;
Union fishing vessel
means any vessel of any size flying the flag of a Member State, equipped for commercial exploitation of marine biological resources, including support vessels, fish processing vessels, vessels engaged in transhipment and carrier vessels equipped for the transportation of fishery products, except container vessels;