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Chapter VII Logbooks and Catch Reports
Article 38
In the event that any tuna longline fishing vessel leaves a port, its captain shall daily report catch data through the E-logbook system designated by the competent authority, and shall also fill in the logbooks designated by the competent authority. Catch reports shall be filled in completely and accurately, and where the catch amount is zero, catch reports shall be filled in as well.
In case that there is any discrepancy between any datum recorded in the E-logbook system and the logbook, the datum recorded in the E-logbook system shall prevail.
In case that the E-logbook system fails to report catch data on the day, the distant water fisheries operator or the captain shall transmit catch data via facsimile to the competent authority or the commissioned professional institution next day. Such catch data shall be signed by the distant water fisheries operator or the captain.
In the event that the E-logbook system fails to report catch data for five consecutive days, it is deemed as mal-function. The malfunctioning E-logbook system shall be repaired no later than 30 days.
In the event that the E-logbook system onboard is deemed as mal-functional for an accumulative period of 15 days and above during one fishing trip, the competent authority may order such fishing vessel to stop fishing immediately and directly navigate to a designated port within the required timeframe for repair and inspection(s) conducted by the personnel dispatched by the competent authority, and the vessel shall not leave the port until the commissioned professional institution has confirmed that such E-logbook system can normally transmit data.
Any expense incurred from port return, port entry and confirmation of E-logbook system as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be borne by the distant water fisheries operator.
Article 39
Any fishing vessel that catches albacore tuna, swordfish, or shortfin mako shall fill in fishing locations in the E-logbook system and logbooks. In case that the fishing location is north of 5°N, such catch shall be deemed as north Atlantic albacore tuna, north Atlantic swordfish, or north Atlantic shortfin mako. In case that the fishing location is south of 5°N, such catch shall be deemed as south Atlantic albacore tuna, south Atlantic swordfish, or south Atlantic shortfin mako.
In case that catch is deemed as north Atlantic shortfin mako in accordance with the preceding paragraph, such catch shall be disposed in accordance with Article 42, paragraph 2.
Article 40
Any tuna longline fishing vessel shall not catch southern bluefin tuna without permission, and in case of bycatch, the fishing vessel shall immediately discard such catch and record the amount of discard on the logbooks and E-logbook system.
In the event that the allowed individual vessel quota of the fish species with catch limit is exhausted, any tuna longline fishing vessel shall immediately discard any subsequent catch of such species and shall record the amount of discard on the logbooks and the E-logbook system.
Article 41
Any tuna longline fishing vessel catching the following fish species shall immediately discard into the sea and shall not retain on board. The amount of discard shall be recorded on the logbooks and the E-logbook system:
(1) Atlantic bluefin tuna;
(2) Swordfish in the entire Atlantic Ocean less than 15 kilograms, or in alternative, less than 119 centimeters lower jaw fork length (LJFL)
Article 42
In case that any tuna fishing vessel finds any sea turtle during fishing operation, such vessel shall, where practicable, bring aboard any comatose or inactive sea turtle as soon as possible, and foster its recovery and return it to the sea at once after recovery.
Any seabird, sea turtle, whale shark, cetacean, penguin or prohibited species promulgated by the competent authority incidentally caught by any tuna fishing vessel shall be released when caught alive or discarded dead, and the number(s) be duly recorded on the logbooks and the E-logbook system.
Article 42-1
Any porbeagle shark, blue marlin, Atlantic sailfish, south Atlantic shortfin mako, and white marlin/roundscale spearfish caught by any tuna fishing vessel shall be released when caught alive and the number(s) released as well as the weight be duly recorded on the logbooks and the E-logbook system.
Retention is allowed, provided that the fish species as referred to in the preceding paragraph are dead. The number(s) retained as well as the weight shall be duly recorded on the logbooks and the E-logbook system. In the event that the allowed individual vessel quota of these fish species, except for porbeagle sharks and Atlantic sailfish, is exhausted, any tuna longline fishing vessel shall immediately discard any subsequent catch of such species and shall record the amount of discard on the logbooks and the E-logbook system.
From 1 January 2025, any fishing vessel that retains south Atlantic shortfin mako shall have an observer or electronic monitoring system on board to verify the condition of sharks.
Article 43
Any fish species of no economic value or no utilizing value caught by any tuna fishing vessel shall be released immediately, and number(s) discarded shall be duly recorded on the logbooks and the E-logbook system.
For any tuna longline fishing vessel to discard any spoiled catch, the competent authority shall be notified, in advance of the discard, of the species, amount, and fishing period, and proving documents shall be provided for examination after the discard.
In case that the catch discarded pursuant to the preceding paragraph is fish species with catch limit, the amount discarded shall be counted as the amount of the quota used.
Article 44
The datum reported through the E-logbook system shall not be altered or amended, unless there is apparent error with the content and the competent authority has approved.
Article 45
The complete logbooks shall be maintained on board any tuna longline fishing vessel for at least one year.
Article 46
The discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook during one fishing trip of any tuna longline fishing vessel and the actual landing amount shall not exceed the following margins:
(1) For bigeye tuna, north Atlantic albacore tuna or south Atlantic albacore tuna: 10% of the actual landing amount.
(2) For north Atlantic swordfish, south Atlantic swordfish or blue marlin: 15% of the actual landing amount.
(3) For white marlin/roundscale spearfish: 15% of the actual landing amount.
(4) For yellowfin tuna: 20% of the actual landing amount.
(5) For sharks and other species: 25% of the actual landing amount.
In case that the discrepancy exceeds the ratio as referred to in the preceding paragraph, whereas the following provisions are met, the competent authority, at its discretion, may deem such situation as non-misreporting:
(1) For bigeye tuna, north Atlantic albacore tuna or south Atlantic albacore tuna, the discrepancy is less than two metric tons.
(2) For north Atlantic swordfish, south Atlantic swordfish or blue marlin, the discrepancy is less than one metric ton.
(3) For white marline/roundscale spearfish, the discrepancy is less than one metric ton.
(4) For yellowfin tuna, the discrepancy is less than four metric tons
(5) For sharks and other species, the discrepancy is less than six metric tons.
The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraphs (1) and (2) of the preceding two paragraphs shall be calculated by each species. The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraph (3) of the preceding two paragraphs shall be calculated by combining the two species. The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraph (5) of the preceding two paragraphs shall be calculated by sharks and other species respectively.
Article 47
Any of the following conditions shall be defined as “seriously misreporting” as referred to in subparagraph (12) of Article 13, paragraph 1 of the Act:
(1) For bigeye tuna, north Atlantic albacore tuna or south Atlantic albacore tuna, the discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook and the actual landing amount exceeds two metric tons as well as 20% of the actual landing amount.
(2) For north Atlantic swordfish, south Atlantic swordfish or blue marlin, the discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook and the actual landing amount exceeds 1.5 metric tons as well as 20% of the actual landing amount.
(3) For white marlin/roundscale spearfish, the discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook and the actual landing amount exceeds 1.5 metric tons as well as 20% of the actual landing amount.
(4) For yellowfin tuna, the discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook and the actual landing amount exceeds four metric tons as well as 50% of the actual landing amount.
(5) For sharks and other species, the discrepancy between the catch amount recorded in the E-logbook and the actual landing amount exceeds six metric tons as well as 50% of the actual landing amount.
The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraphs (1) and (2) of the preceding paragraph shall be calculated by each species. The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraph (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be calculated by combining the two species. The discrepancy as referred to in subparagraph (5) of the preceding paragraph shall be calculated by sharks and other species respectively.