These Regulations are hereby established pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 2; Article 10, paragraph 2; Article 11, paragraph 3; and Article 24, paragraph 2 of the Act for Distant Water Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).

Terms used in these Regulations are defined as follows:
(1) “Tuna longline fishing vessel” means any fishing vessel targeting highly migratory fish species such as tunas, billfishes, sharks, skipjacks, or mahi mahi with longline fishing gears.
(2) Independent third party” means any of the following institutions recognized by the competent authority:
i. For Japan:
(i) Shinken Corporation.
(ii) Nippon Kaiji Kentei Kyokai, Incorporated Association.
ii. For areas excluding Japan: the verifying institution which obtains the accreditation for management system certification from the Taiwan Accreditation Foundation (TAF).
(3) “Carrier vessel” means the following vessels that conducts the transshipment of catches from tuna longline fishing vessel(s) to itself and transports to ports:
i. ‘Carrier vessel of the Republic of China’ refers to the carrier vessel which has the fishing license of the Republic of China.
ii. ‘Foreign carrier vessel’ refers to the carrier vessel, excluding container vessel, which has the valid nationality certificate of the flag State of a foreign country.

Fishing vessels proceeding to the Atlantic Ocean to catch highly migratory species such as, tunas, billfishes, sharks, skipjack, or mahi mahi shall be limited to tuna longline fishing vessels of 100 Gross Tonnage (GT) and above. The area of the Atlantic Ocean is as shown in Appendix 1.
“Regulations for Fishing Vessels Conducting Southern Bluefin Tuna Fishery” shall also be applied to any tuna longline fishing vessel catching southern bluefin tuna.

• Appendix 1 Area of the Atlantic Ocean.pdf

Tuna longline fishing vessels proceeding to the Atlantic Ocean for fishing operation are categorized, in accordance with the catch species, into the following groups and fishing areas, which are as shown in Appendix 2 and 3:
(1) Bigeye tuna group: targeting bigeye tuna. The fishing area is north of 25°S to south of 25°N.
(2) North albacore tuna group: targeting north Atlantic albacore tuna. The fishing area is north of 10°N and west of 45°W, and north of 5°N, excluding the Mediterranean Sea.
(3) South albacore tuna group: targeting south Atlantic albacore tuna. The fishing area is south of 10°S
Any tuna longline fishing vessel shall fish only within the fishing area(s) permitted by the competent authority.

• Appendix 2 The fishing area of the bigeye tuna group.pdf
• Appendix 3 Fishing areas of the north albacore tuna group and south albacore tuna group.pdf

Limits on the number of tuna longline fishing vessels fishing in the Atlantic Ocean are as follows:
(1) Bigeye tuna group: the number of fishing vessels is limited to 56.
(2) North albacore tuna group: the number of fishing vessels is limited to 8.
(3) South albacore tuna group: the number of fishing vessels is limited to 30.

Any tuna longline fishing vessel shall not stay at sea for more than ten consecutive months. The duration may be extended for two months with the consent of the competent authority, provided that there is a cause of force majeure or insufficient berths in port that leads to failing to enter port within the required timeframe. Such extension shall be permitted for one time only.
For any tuna longline fishing vessel that does not enter port before these Regulations are promulgated on 6 June 2022, its days at sea before 1 January 2022 are not counted in the duration as referred to in the preceding paragraph.