Chapter VI The Designation and Management of Ports for Transshipment or Landing
Article 25
Any saury fishing vessel intending to conduct transshipment or landing in domestic or foreign ports shall be limited to the following ports:
(1) Foreign ports: Busan, Korea.
(2) Domestic ports: Chienchen Fishing Harbor and Siaogang Linhai New Residential Quarter Fishing Harbor, Kaohsiung City.
For the landing or in-port transshipment approved by the competent authority to be conducted in Chienchen Fishing Harbor or Siaogang Linhai New Residential Quarter Fishing Harbor, the landing or in-port transshipment may be conducted at any of the two ports within the timeframe approved.
Any fishing vessel intending to conduct landing in mainland China shall be limited to the designated ports stipulated in the Regulations on Permission and the Management of Fishing Vessels Sailing to Mainland China.
Article 26
Any carrier vessel intending to transship catches from any saury fishing vessel shall meet any of the following requirements:
(1) It is a carrier vessel of the Republic of China and has obtained the distant water fisheries permit; or
(2) It is a foreign carrier vessel listed on the list of authorized vessels of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (hereinafter referred to as “NPFC”), and installed with the ALC which meets the standards specified by the competent authority, and reports its position hourly to the commissioned professional institution.
Any processing vessel and auxiliary vessel that receives catches of saury fishing vessel(s) shall be listed on the list of authorized vessels of the NPFC.
As of 1 September 2023, any carrier vessel that transships saury shall be deployed with an observer.
Article 27
Any saury fishing vessel and carrier vessel of the Republic of China shall not engage in transshipment, refueling, or supply with any fishing vessel not listed on the authorized vessels list of the NPFC, or any fishing vessel that has altered its name or registration number.
Article 28
In case of any of the following circumstances, the competent authority shall list the foreign carrier vessel concerned which transships catches from saury fishing vessel(s) on the non-cooperative carriers list:
(1) The foreign carrier vessel has violated any provision regarding vessel position reporting; or
(2) The foreign carrier vessel has violated any provision regarding transshipment or landing.
In case that any foreign processing vessel or auxiliary tender vessel that transships catches of saury fishing vessel(s) violates any provision regarding transshipment or landing, the competent authority shall list such vessel on the non-cooperative processing vessels or auxiliary tender vessels list.
Article 29
For any carrier vessel intending to transship at sea, the distant water fisheries operator shall submit the transshipment plan and relevant information (as shown in Appendix 4) and apply to the competent authority five days before the transshipment at sea for approval. In case that the last day for filing the application is a day-off, the application shall be made on the working day before the day-off.
Any foreign carrier vessel shall, with the enclosure of relevant information as shown in Appendix 4, apply to the competent authority for approval before conducting the transshipment in port with any saury fishing vessel for the first time in the current year.
In case of any addition to the list of saury fishing vessel(s) in the transshipment plan approved by the competent authority, the application shall be submitted two working days before making such addition to the competent authority for approval. The transshipment with the concerned saury fishing vessel(s) may only be conducted after the approval has been granted. Any application submitted after the prescribed deadline shall be denied.
Article 30
In case of any of the following circumstances, the application of in-port transshipment or the transshipment plan as referred to in Article 29 shall be denied:
(1) The carrier vessel concerned does not meet the requirements stipulated in Article 26;
(2) Three years have not passed since the carrier vessel concerned was listed on the non-cooperative carriers list, or one year has not passed since the carrier vessel was listed on the non-cooperative carriers list for not submitting the Transshipment Declaration to the competent authority or the NPFC Secretariat within the required timeframe, in violation of Article 35; or
(3) The fine for violating the Act imposed on the carrier vessel concerned has not been paid completely.
Article 31
Any saury fishing vessel and carrier vessel that intends to conduct transshipment shall respectively apply for the approval from the competent authority before the transshipment.
Any saury fishing vessel and processing vessel shall apply for the approval respectively from the competent authority, before the transshipment from a saury fishing vessel to a processing or auxiliary tender vessel.
Any (distant water fisheries) operator or captain applying for the approval as referred to in the preceding two paragraphs shall fill in the transshipment notification (format as shown in Appendix 5) and submit it to the competent authority no later than three days before the estimated date for transshipment. In case that the last day for filing the application is a day-off, the application shall be made on the working day before the day-off. In case of force majeure that prevents a fishing vessel from applying within the deadline, the application shall be submitted before the completion of the transshipment.
Saury fishing vessels, carrier vessels, processing vessels, and Auxiliary tender vessels may transship within 24 hours after the approved time for transshipment, but shall carry out such activity within 20 nautical miles of the approved location for transshipment.
For any transshipment not being able to be conducted within the timeframe or range as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the (distant water fisheries) operator or the captain concerned shall, 24 hours before the estimated time for transshipment, fill in the transshipment notification (format as shown in Appendix 5) and apply to the competent authority for the change of transshipment time and/or location. Any application made after the timeframe shall be denied. In case that other matter(s) is also changed in addition to the transshipment time and/or location, a new application shall be made in accordance with paragraph 3.
When filing an application in accordance with paragraph 3 or preceding paragraph, the (distant water fisheries) operator or captain shall simultaneously, or no later than 24 hours before the estimated time for transshipment, submit the transshipment notification (format as shown in Appendix 5) to the NPFC Secretariat. In case of force majeure that prevents a fishing vessel from submitting such notification within the timeframe, the notification shall be submitted before the completion of the transshipment.
If an approved transshipment is cancelled, the concerned (distant water) fisheries operator or captain of the saury fishing vessel, carrier vessel, and Auxiliary tender vessel shall notify the competent authority and the NPFC Secretariat within three days after the approved period for transshipment.
Article 31-1
For any fishing vessel intending to conduct transfer activities, such as transferring baits, oil, supplies, or crew, the distant water fisheries operator or captain of any receiving fishing vessel shall, 24 hours before the intended transfer, fill in the at-sea transfer notification (format as shown in Appendix 5-1) and submit it to the competent authority and the NPFC Secretariat. In case of force majeure that prevents a fishing vessel from submitting such notification within the timeframe, the notification shall be submitted before the completion of the transfer.
Any transfer activity shall be conducted at the estimated time or within 24 hours after such time, and within 20 nautical miles of the location indicated in the at-sea transfer notification.
Any transfer activity not being able to be conducted within the timeframe or range as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the distant water fisheries operator or the captain of the receiving fishing vessel shall file a new application in accordance with paragraph 1.
If an approved transfer is cancelled, the distant water fisheries operator or captain of the receiving fishing vessel shall notify the competent authority and the NPFC Secretariat within three days after the estimated period for transfer.
Article 32
For any saury fishing vessel, carrier vessel, processing vessel, or auxiliary tender vessel that is under any of the following circumstances during the current fishing trip, the competent authority shall not authorize such vessel to transship at sea:
(1) The ALC on board is mal-functional and has not been repaired.
(2) There is concrete evidence to identify such vessel has involved in any serious infringement as prescribed in subparagraph (4) to (14) or (18) of Article 13, paragraph 1 of the Act.
(3) The discrepancy between the amount to be transshipped and the catch amount reported through the E-logbook system exceeds 10% of the latter.
For any saury fishing vessel or carrier vessel that is under any of the following circumstances during the current fishing trip, the competent authority may not authorize such vessel to transship at sea:
(1) For the catches to be transshipped, it is suspected that the vessel applying for the transshipment has operated within the water under the jurisdiction of any other country without valid authorization.
(2) Any of the following infractions found by the competent authority or the independent third party, or reported by personnel of international fisheries organization(s), have not been improved:
i. No valid fishing license on board.
ii. No logbook as designated by the competent authority on board.
iii. Any vessel marking that is not marked in accordance with Article 10 to 12.
Article 33
In the event that the catch of any saury fishing vessel has been landed in a port and is subsequently transported by a carrier vessel for port departure, it shall be deemed as transshipment, and Article 31 shall apply.
Article 34
The saury fishing vessel or carrier vessel which obtains the approval to transship pursuant to Article 31 shall not conduct the transshipment in the event that the ALC on board is signal-lost and has not been repaired.
Article 35
For any carrier vessel that receives catches, it shall separate catches from each individual saury fishing vessel and shall have onboard a plan indicating the planned locations for catches of each saury fishing vessel (hereinafter referred to as “Catch Plan”) as well as a stowage plan that records completely and accurately the actual locations of catches for inspections.
Any (distant water) fisheries operator or captain of a saury fishing vessel, carrier vessel, and processing vessel shall:
(1) Respectively fill in the transshipment declaration (format as shown in Appendix 6) and submit it to the competent authority and the NPFC Secretariat, within three working days after the completion of transshipment.
(2) Place onboard for inspection the transshipment declaration(s) of each transshipment that has been engaged in during the current trip.
Article 36
For any saury fishing vessel landing its catch in a domestic or foreign port, the following person(s) shall fill in the Advance Notice of Landing (as shown in Appendix 7), and submit it to the competent authority for approval by the following deadline; and in case that the last day for filing the application is a day-off, the application shall be made on the working day before the day-off:
(1) For the landing conducted by a saury fishing vessel, its distant water fisheries operator or captain shall submit it no later than three days before the estimated date for landing.
(2) For the landing conducted by a saury fishing vessel with the catch subsequently being transported by commissioning a container vessel, the distant water fisheries operator or the captain of such saury fishing vessel shall submit it no later than three days before the estimated date for landing.
(3) For the landing conducted by a carrier vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of a saury fishing vessel shall submit it no later than three days before the estimated date for landing.
(4) For the landing conducted by a carrier vessel with the catch subsequently being transported by commissioning a container vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of a saury fishing vessel shall submit it no later than three days before the estimated date for landing.
Fishing vessels approved by the competent authority to conduct landing may land the catch within seven days starting from the date approved to conduct landing. For any fishing vessel that is approved to land in the domestic port as referred to in Article 25, paragraph 2, the landing may be conducted within 11 days.
For any landing not being able to be conducted within the timeframe as referred to in the preceding paragraph, the distant water fisheries operator or the captain of a saury fishing vessel may apply for the change of landing date before the end of the timeframe, and the landing shall only be conducted after obtaining the approval from the competent authority. Any application made after the timeframe shall be denied.
For any saury fishing vessel whose catch is landed at a foreign port and transported to a domestic port by a container vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of such saury fishing vessel shall, no later than three days before the container vessel’s port entry, notify the competent authority of the time for port entry and the name of the port.
Fishing vessels may only apply for navigating from the fishing area to the port(s) of Mainland China for landing in accordance with paragraph 1 after the completion of fishing operations in the current year, and shall not load any object from the Mainland China.
Article 37
Upon the completion of landing of any saury fishing vessel, the following person(s) shall fill in and submit to the competent authority the Landing Declaration (as shown in Appendix 7), by the prescribed deadline:
(1) For the landing conducted by a saury fishing vessel, its distant water fisheries operator or captain shall submit the Declaration within ten working days after the completion of landing.
(2) For the landing conducted by a saury fishing vessel with the catch subsequently being transported by commissioning a container vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of such saury fishing vessel shall submit the Declaration within ten working days after the container(s) containing such catch unloads and completes customs clearance.
(3) For the landing conducted by a carrier vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of a saury fishing vessel shall submit the Declaration within ten working days after the completion of landing by the carrier vessel.
(4) For the landing conducted by a carrier vessel with the catch subsequently being transported by commissioning a container vessel, the distant water fisheries operator of a saury fishing vessel shall submit the Declaration within ten working days after the container(s) containing such catch unloads and completes customs clearance.
The term “completion of landing” as referred to in these Regulations means the whole weighing process has been completed for the catch landed at a port.
Article 38
The distant water fisheries operator and captain of any fishing vessel shall accept port inspections conducted by the competent authority or the independent third party for the verification of the catch landed or transshipped.
The distant water fisheries operator or captain of any saury fishing vessel that is designated by the competent authority to be inspected shall comply with the following:
(1) For inspections conducted by the competent authority, the landing or transshipment shall be started only after the person(s) of the competent authority has arrived.
(2) For inspections conducted by the independent third party, the contact with the independent third party shall be made, and the landing and transshipment shall be started only after the person(s) of the independent third party has arrived.
Article 39
The distant water fisheries operator of any saury fishing vessel shall, within 60 days after the completion of sale or landing, submit sales or inventory information to the competent authority. The sales information shall at least include buyer(s), fish species and quantities.
Article 39-1
Any of the following circumstances shall be imposed with punishment(s) in accordance with Article 36 of the Act:
(1) Any transshipment is conducted without approval, or in case of force majeure, application is not filed before the completion of transshipment, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 1 or 2.
(2) Any transshipment is conducted not within the approved timeframe or range, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 4. Notwithstanding, the circumstances as stipulated in paragraph 2, subparagraph (3) and (4) of this Article are not subject to this provision.
(3) Any landing is conducted without approval, in violation of Article 36, paragraph1.
(4) Any landing is conducted not within the approved timeframe, in violation of Article 36, paragraph 2. Notwithstanding, the circumstances as stipulated in paragraph 2, subparagraph (14) of this Article are not subject to this provision.
(5) Any inspection for verification of the catch is evaded, obstructed, or refused, in violation of Article 38, paragraph 1; or the requirements as stipulated in Article 38, paragraph 2 are not complied with.
Any of the following circumstances shall be imposed with punishment(s) in accordance with Article 41 of the Act:
(1) Any fishing vessel engages in refueling or supply with any fishing vessel not listed in the authorized fishing vessel list of NPFC, or any fishing vessel that has altered its name or registration number, in violation of Article 27.
(2) Any carrier vessel of the Republic of China transships with, refuels, or supplies any fishing vessel not listed in the authorized fishing vessel list of NPFC, or any fishing vessel that has altered its name or registration number, in violation of Article 27.
(3) Any carrier vessel or fishing vessel authorized to transship in Chienchen Fishing Harbor or Siaogang Linhai New Residential Quarter Fishing Harbor conducts such activity after the timeframe approved, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 4.
(4) Transshipment is conducted after 24 to 48 hours after the approved time for transshipment, or in a location exceeding 20 to 50 nautical miles of the approved location for transshipment, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 4.
(5) The transshipment notification is not submitted to the NPFC Secretariat within 24 hours before the estimated time for transshipment or, in case of force majeure, before the completion of the transshipment, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 6.
(6) Failing to notify the competent authority or NPFC Secretariat within three days after the approved period for transshipment, in the case of cancellation of transshipment, in violation of Article 31, paragraph 7.
(7) Failing to submit the at-sea transfer notification to the competent authority or NPFC Secretariat within the timeframe, in violation of Article 31-1, paragraph 1. Notwithstanding, in case of transferring foreign crew employed overseas by distant water fisheries operators of fishing vessels of the Republic of China, if the at-sea transfer notification has been submitted to the NPFC Secretariat within the timeframe and permission from the competent authority has been applied for in accordance with Article 27 or 28 of the Regulations on the Authorization and Management of Overseas Employment of Foreign Crew Members, it shall be exempted.
(8) Any transfer activity is conducted not within the estimated period or range, in violation of Article 31-1, paragraph 2.
(9) Failing to notify the competent authority or NPFC Secretariat within three days after the estimated period for transfer activity, in the case of cancellation of trasfer, in violation of Article 31-1, paragraph 4.
(10) Transshipment is conducted when the ALC on board is signal-lost and has not been repaired, in violation of Article 34.
(11) A Catch Plan and stowage plan that records completely and accurately the actual locations of catches are not placed onboard, in violation of Article 35, paragraph 1.
(12) The transshipment declaration is not submitted before the deadline to the competent authority or NPFC Secretariat, in violation of Article 35, paragraph 2, subparagraph (1).
(13) Failing to place onboard the transshipment declaration(s) of each transshipment that has been engaged in during the current trip, in violation of Article 35, paragraph 2, subparagraph (2).
(14) A fishing vessel that is under the circumstances stipulated in the proviso clause of Article 36, paragraph 2 lands in Chienchen Fishing Harbor or Siaogang Linhai New Residential Quarter Fishing Harbor after the timeframe approved.
(15) The Landing Declaration is not submitted before the deadline, in violation of Article 37.