CMM_2009-02_[FAD_Closure_and_Catch_Retention]

SIXTH REGULAR SESSION
Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
7-11 December 2009
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT MEASURE ON THE APPLICATION OF
HIGH SEAS
FAD CLOSURES AND CATCH RETENTION
Conservation and Management Measure 2009-02
Recalling that CMM 2008-01 1 provides for a FAD closure and catch retention by purse
seine vessels in the area bounded by 20ºN and 20ºS;
Concerned to ensure clear rules for the application of the provisions relating to the FAD
closure and catch retention;
Concerned to ensure compatibility of measures established for the high seas with those
already adopted for areas under national jurisdiction in accordance with Article 8 (1);
Conscious that incomplete or inconsistent application of the elements of CMM 2008-01
will undermine the effectiveness of the Measure;
Recalling that the PNA have developed detailed Regulations for the implementation of
FAD closures and catch retention in their EEZs;
Concerned at reports by the WCPFC Secretariat and Members about cases of
inconsistent application of the two month FAD closure in the high seas in 2009;]]
Adopts, in accordance with Article 10 of the Convention, the following Measure to be
read as a part of CMM 2008-01:
OBJECTIVES
1. The objectives of this Measure are:
a. to ensure consistent and robust application of FAD closures and catch retention
in the high seas between 200S and 200N through the specification of minimum
standards.
b. to apply high standards to the application of the FAD closure and catch retention
in order to remove any possibility for the targeting of aggregated fish, or the
discard of small fish.
2. Each CCM shall take the necessary measures to ensure that purse seine vessels
flying its flag on the high seas comply with these rules in the application of the
provisions of CMM 2008-01 relating to a FAD closure and catch retention.
1

Conservation and Management Measure for Bigeye and Yellowfin Tuna in the Western and Central Pacific
Ocean

Rules for FAD Closure
3. The definition of a FAD in footnote 1 to CMM 2008-01 shall be interpreted as
including:
“any object or group of objects, of any size, that has or has not been deployed, that
is living or non-living, including but not limited to buoys, floats, netting, webbing,
plastics, bamboo, logs and whale sharks floating on or near the surface of the water
that fish may associate with”
4. During the FAD closure period specified in CMM 2008-01, no purse seine vessel
shall conduct any part of a set within one nautical mile of a FAD. That is, at no time
may the vessel or any of its fishing gear or tenders be located within one nautical
mile of a FAD while a set is being conducted.
5. The operator of a vessel shall not allow the vessel to be used to aggregate fish, or to
move aggregated fish including using underwater lights and chumming.
6. A FAD and/or associated electronic equipment shall not be retrieved by a vessel
during the period of a FAD closure unless:
a. the FAD and/or associated electronic equipment are retrieved and kept on board
the vessel until landed or until the end of the closure; and
b. the vessel does not conduct any set either for a period of seven (7) days after
retrieval or within a fifty (50) mile radius of the point of retrieval of any FAD.
7. In addition to paragraph 6, vessels shall not be used to operate in cooperation with
each other in order to catch aggregated fish. No vessel shall conduct any set during
the prohibition period within one nautical mile of a point where a FAD has been
retrieved by another vessel within twenty four (24) hours immediately preceding the
set.
Rules for Catch Retention
8. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board
for reasons related to the size, marketability, or species composition, the fish shall
only be released before the net is fully pursed and one half of the net has been
retrieved.
9. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board
because they are “unfit for human consumption”, the following definitions shall be
applied:
a. “unfit for human consumption” includes, but is not limited to fish that:
i. is meshed or crushed in the purse seine net; or
ii. is damaged due to shark or whale depredation; or
iii. 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; and
b. “unfit for human consumption” does not include fish that:
i. is considered undesirable in terms of size, marketability, or species
composition; or

ii. is spoiled or contaminated as the result of an act or omission of the crew of
the fishing vessel.
10. Where the operator of a vessel determines that fish should not be retained on board
because it was caught during the final set of a trip when there is insufficient well
space to accommodate all fish caught in that set, the fish may only be discarded if:
a. the vessel master and crew attempt to release the fish alive as soon as possible;
b. no further fishing is undertaken after the discard until the fish on board the vessel
has been landed or transhipped.
11. Fish shall not be discarded from the vessel until after an observer has estimated the
species composition of the fish to be discarded.
12. The operator of the vessel shall submit[ to the Executive Director a report that
includes the following information within forty-eight 48 hours after any discard:
a. Name, flag and WCPFC Identification Number of the vessel;
b. Name and nationality of master;
c. Licence number;
d. Name of observer on board;
e. Date, time and location (latitude/longitude) that discarding occurred;
f.

Date, time, location (latitude/longitude) and type (drifting FAD, anchored FAD,
free school etc) of the shot;

g. Reason that fish were discarded (including statement of retrieval status if fish
were discarded in accordance with paragraph 6);
h. Estimated tonnage and species composition of discarded fish;
i.

Estimated tonnage and species composition of retained fish from that set;

j.

If fish were discarded in accordance with paragraph 10, a statement that no
further fishing will be undertaken until the catch on board has been unloaded;
and

k. Any other information deemed relevant by the vessel master.
13. The operator of the vessel shall also provide a hard copy of the information
described in para 12 to the WCPFC Observer on board.