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Chapter I General Principles
Article 1
These Regulations are established pursuant to Article 37, subparagraph (1) and Article 54, subparagraph (5) of the Fisheries Act (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).
Article 2
Any fishing vessel permitted by the competent authority to operate tuna longline fishery shall comply with these Regulations when operating in the internal water, territorial sea, or the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “coastal and offshore area”). Notwithstanding such provision, where there is any special provision stipulated in the Regulations for Longline Fishing Vessels Operating in the Maritime Area Subject to the Fisheries Agreement between Taiwan and Japan or the Regulations on the Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna Fishing Operation, such a special provision shall prevail.
Article 3
A tuna longline fishing vessel as referred to in these Regulations means a fishing vessel targeting highly migratory species (as listed in Appendix 1), such as tunas, billfishes, or sharks, with longline fishing gears.
Any longline fishing vessel not operating tuna longline fishery shall not target the highly migratory species as listed in Appendix 1.
The targeting of highly migratory species as referred to in the preceding two paragraphs means the catch amount of highly migratory species during the first half or second half of the current year accounts for 50% or more of the total catch amount of the same period.
Article 4
Any tuna longline fishing vessel operating in the coastal and offshore area shall be installed onboard the automatic location communication (ALC) as designated by the central competent authority. A tuna longline fishing vessel less than 20 GT which has been already installed onboard the Automatic Identification System (AIS) devices is exempted from such provision.
The ALC as referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be certified by the professional institution appointed by the central competent authority (hereinafter referred to as “the professional institution”) that such ALC can regularly and normally transmit vessel positions. Relevant installation fees shall be borne by fishery operators and may be subsidized by the competent authority depending on the financial situation of the government.
For a fishing vessel as referred to in paragraph 1 to be installed with the AIS devices, Article 242-1 and 242-3 of the Regulations for Fishing Vessels Devices shall be complied with, the vessel shall obtain from the National Communication Commission the maritime mobile service identity (MMSI), and the AIS shall be correctly set and regularly and normally transmit vessel positions.