Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations Commonwealth Consolidated RegulationsNote: See paragraph 2.1(e).
1.1 In this Schedule:
"Commission" means the Commission for the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation.
"Convention Area" means the waters defined in Article 5 of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean done at Auckland on 14 November 2009.
Note: The Convention is in Australian Treaty Series 2012 No. 28 ([2012] ATS 28) and could in 2014 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
"exploratory fishery" means:
(a) a fishery in the Convention Area that has not been subject to fishing in the previous 10 years; or
(b) a fishery in the Convention Area that is identified by reference to fishing by a particular gear type or technique, if the fishery has not been subject to fishing by that particular gear type or technique in the previous 10 years; or
(c) any other fishery in the Convention Area if:
(i) fishing has been undertaken in the fishery in the previous 10 years in accordance with SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 13 - 2016; and
(ii) a decision has not yet been made under SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 13 - 2016 to either close or manage the fishery as an established fishery.
"IUU Vessels List" means the list of vessels presumed to have carried out illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities in the SPRFMO convention area, established by SPRFMO, as in force from time to time.
"Record of Vessels" means the record of vessels established by the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation under Article 27 of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean done at Auckland on 14 November 2009.
Note: The Convention is in Australian Treaty Series 2012 No. 28 ([2012] ATS 28) and could in 2015 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
"UTC" means Coordinated Universal Time.
2 Conservation and management measure for gillnets
2.1 A person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing must not use large - scale pelagic driftnets or deepwater gillnets.
2.2 A person using a boat to transit through the Convention Area must not have gillnets on board the boat unless:
(a) the person notifies the flag State of the boat of the following information at least 36 hours before the boat enters the Convention Area:
(i) the date the boat is expected to enter the Convention Area;
(ii) the date the boat is expected to leave the Convention Area;
(iii) the length of gillnets carried on board; and
(b) the person has on board a vessel monitoring system that:
(i) is fully operational; and
(ii) records the boat's identification, current geographical position and the date and time expressed in UTC; and
(iii) reports the information mentioned in subparagraph ( ii) to the fisheries monitoring centre of the flag State of the boat at least every 2 hours while the boat is in the Convention Area.
2.3 If gillnets on board a boat transiting through the Convention Area are accidentally lost or fall overboard, the person using the boat must report the following information to the flag State of the boat within 48 hours after the gillnets are lost or fall overboard:
(a) the date, time and position of the boat when the gillnets are lost or fall overboard;
(b) the length of the gillnets that have been lost or have fallen overboard.
2.4 In this clause:
"deepwater gillnet" means a string of single, double or triple netting walls held vertically on or near the bottom in which fish will gill, entangle or enmesh.
"large-scale pelagic driftnet" means nets or a combination of nets that:
(a) are more than 2.5 kilometres in length; and
(b) have any of the following purposes:
(i) to enmesh fish by drifting on the surface of the water column;
(ii) to enmesh fish by drifting in the water column;
(iii) to entrap fish by drifting on the surface of the water column;
(iv) to entrap fish by drifting in the water column;
(v) to entangle fish by drifting on the surface of the water column;
(vi) to entangle fish by drifting in the water column.
3.1 A person fishing in the Convention Area must not:
(a) use a boat that is included on the IUU Vessels List; or
(b) tranship with a boat included on the IUU Vessels List; or
(c) participate in a joint fishing operation with a boat included on the IUU Vessels List; or
(d) assist a boat included on the IUU Vessels List; or
(e) resupply a boat included on the IUU Vessels List.
4 Conservation and management measure for Trachurus murphyi
4.1 A person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing must not fish for Trachurus murphyi unless authorised to do so by the flag State of the boat.
4.2 A person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing must not fish for Trachurus murphyi if the flag State of the boat announces that the catch limit for Trachurus murphyi has been reached.
5.1 A person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing must have on board an automatic location communicator that:
(a) is fully operational; and
(b) records the boat's identification, current geographical position and the date and time expressed in UTC; and
(c) reports the information mentioned in paragraph ( b) to the fisheries monitoring centre of the flag State of the boat:
(i) if the boat is benthic or benthopelagic trawling--at least every 2 hours; or
(ii) if the boat is operating within 20 nautical miles of an exclusive economic zone boundary--at least every 2 hours; or
(iii) in any other case--at least every 4 hours.
6 Conservation and management measure for the management of bottom fishing
6.1 A person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing must not engage in bottom fishing outside the bottom fishing footprint established for the flag State of the boat unless an exemption has been granted by the Commission.
6.2 A person using trawl gear in the Convention Area for bottom fishing must ensure that there is at least one observer on the boat for the duration of the trip.
6.3 In this clause:
"bottom fishing" means fishing using any gear that is likely to contact the seafloor or benthic organisms during normal use.
"bottom fishing footprint" , in relation to a flag State, means a map of the spatial extent and distribution of historical bottom fishing in the Convention Area of all boats flagged to the State for the period between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2006.
7.1 A person must not use a boat in the Convention Area for fishing unless the name of the boat is recorded on the Record of Vessels.
Note: The Record of Vessels could in 2014 be viewed on the SPRFMO's website (http://www.southpacificrfmo.org).
8 Conservation and management measure for minimising by - catch of seabirds
Demersal longline fishing
8.1 If a person is using a boat in the Convention Area for demersal longline fishing:
(a) the person must not discharge biological material during the shooting and hauling of demersal longlines unless it is necessary to discharge the material due to operational safety concerns; and
(b) the person must use:
(i) the mitigation measures mentioned in column 1 of items 1, 2 and 3 of the following table; or
(ii) if the flag State of the boat has given the person approval to use only one of the mitigation measures mentioned in column 1 of an item of the following table--the mitigation measure approved by the flag State of the boat; and
(c) the person must ensure that the mitigation measure used conforms to the specifications mentioned for the measure in column 3 of the item of the table that applies to the measure.
Mitigation measures for minimising by - catch of seabirds | |||
Item | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
| Mitigation Measure | Description | Specifications |
1 | Line weighting | The person must use a longline weighting regime that achieves a demonstrable minimum longline sink rate of 0.3 metres/second to 15 metres depth for gear. | The person's line weighting regime must meet or exceed the following: (a) external weighted lines used in a Spanish system or on trot lines must use a minimum of: (i) if rocks are used--8.5 kilograms mass at intervals of no more than 40 metres; or (ii) if concrete weights are used--6 kilograms mass at intervals of no more than 20 metres; or (iii) if solid metal weights are used--5 kilograms weights at intervals of no more than 40 metres; (b) external weighted lines used on an autoline system must: (i) use a minimum of 5 kilograms mass at intervals of no more than 40 metres; and (ii) be released from the boat in a manner that avoids tension astern; (c) internal weighted lines must have a lead core of 50 grams per metre or more. |
2 | Bird scaring lines | The person must have a bird scaring line deployed whenever fishing gear is being set from the boat. | The person must have at least one bird scaring line deployed and the line must: (a) be attached to the boat so that when deployed the baits are protected by the streamer line (even in cross winds); and (b) use streamers that: (i) are brightly coloured; and (ii) are attached to the line with swivels that prevent the streamers from wrapping around the line; and (c) use streamers that are long enough to reach the sea - surface in calm conditions and placed at intervals of no more than 5 metres apart for at least the first 55 metres of the line; and (d) be deployed so that: (i) it remains above the water surface to a distance where the hooks have sunk to a depth of 15 metres; or (ii) it is at least 150 metres in length and suspended from a point on the boat that is at least 7 metres above the sea - surface in calm conditions. |
3 | Night setting | The person must set demersal longlines between nautical dusk and nautical dawn. | Nautical dusk and nautical dawn are defined in the Nautical Almanac tables for the relevant latitude, local time and date. |
Trawl fishing
8.2 Subject to subclauses 8.3 and 8.3A , if a person is using a boat in the Convention Area for trawl fishing, the person:
(a) must have deployed when the trawl net is in the water:
(i) bird scaring lines on the port and starboard sides of the boat that meet the requirements mentioned in subclause 8.4; or
(ii) if operational practice prevents the effective deployment of bird scaring lines (such as deep - water trawls targeting bathymetric features)--a bird baffler that meets the requirements mentioned in subclause 8.5; and
(b) must not discharge any biological material during shooting and hauling unless it is necessary to discharge the material due to operational safety concerns.
8.3 Subclause 8.2 does not apply to a person if the boat being used does not discharge biological material during fishing.
8.3A Subclause 8.2 does not apply to the use of a boat in a particular fishery (identified by reference to gear type and geographical location) at a particular time if:
(a) there have been no bird mortalities in relation to the boat within one year before the time; and
(b) the flag State of the boat has maintained 100% observer coverage of the fishery for the 5 - year period ending at the time; and
(c) during that 5 - year period, there have been fewer than one recorded bird mortalities per boat of that flag State in the fishery per year.
8.4 For subparagraph 8.2(a)(i), a bird scaring line must:
(a) be attached above and outside the warp block of the boat; and
(b) have a buoy or cone attached to the end of the line to create tension and keep the line straight; and
(c) be long enough to extend beyond the point at which warp and net monitoring cables reach the sea - surface; and
(d) have attached brightly coloured streamers that:
(i) are attached no more than 5 metres apart; and
(ii) are long enough to reach the sea - surface in calm conditions.
8.5 For subparagraph 8.2(a)(ii), a bird baffler must:
(a) have a boom that extends outwards by at least 4 metres from the starboard and port stern quarters of the boat; and
(b) have, attached to each boom, dropper lines that:
(i) are attached no more than 2 metres apart; and
(ii) have attached to the end of each line a plastic cone, rod or other brightly coloured and durable material that is no more than 500 millimetres above the sea - surface in calm conditions.
9 Conservation and management measure for regulating transhipment and other transfer activities
9 .1 A person must not transfer fishery resources, or a product derived from fishery resources, from a boat to another boat in the Convention Area, either at sea or in port, unless the name of each boat is recorded on the Record of Vessels.
9 .2 A person must not transfer crew, fuel, gear or any other supplies from a boat to another boat at sea in the Convention Area unless the name of each boat is recorded on the Record of Vessels.
9 .3 In this clause:
"fishery resources" has the meaning given by Article 1 of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean done at Auckland on 14 November 2009.
Note: The Convention is in Australian Treaty Series 2012 No. 28 ([2012] ATS 28) and could in 2015 be viewed in the Australian Treaties Library on the AustLII website (http://www.austlii.edu.au).
10 Conservation and management measure for exploratory fisheries
10.1 Subject to clause 11, a person using a boat in the Convention Area for fishing:
(a) must not fish in an exploratory fishery otherwise than in accordance with a fishery operations plan approved, from time to time, by the SPRFMO Commission under SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 13 - 2016 in relation to the fishery; and
(b) must:
(i) collect the data specified in the data collection plan approved, from time to time, by the SPRFMO Scientific Committee under SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 13 - 2016 in relation to the fishery; and
(ii) collect and report that data in accordance with SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 02 - 2017; and
(c) must ensure that one or more independent observers, as necessary for the collection of data in accordance with the data collection plan, are on board the boat.
11 Conservation and management measure for exploratory fishing for toothfish
11.1 Clause 10 does not prevent a person from using a boat for fishing for toothfish in accordance with SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measure 14 - 2016.