100 % of harvesting and transfer operations shall be inspected.

Flexible benchmark, to be set after a detailed analysis of the sport and recreational fisheries activities conducted.

Flexible benchmark, to be set after a detailed analysis of the marketing activity conducted.

The relevant authority shall send a record of the landings to the flag State authority of the fishing vessel within 48 hours after the landing has ended (as provided for by point 70 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03).

All vessels entering a designated port for the purpose of landing bluefin tuna shall be controlled and a percentage shall be inspected based on a risk assessment system, involving quota, fleet size and fishing effort;

Flexible benchmark, to be set after a detailed analysis of the fishing activity conducted in each area and taking into consideration the available resources at the Member State’s disposal.

Member States shall then establish and maintain a record of all joint fishing operations authorised by them.

All joint fishing operations must have been authorised previously by the flag States;

A transhipment declaration shall be transmitted to the Flag States no later than 48 hours after the date of transhipment in port (as provided for by point 66 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03).

All concerned vessels shall be inspected on arrival before the transhipment operations start, as well as before departure after the transhipment operations. Random checks shall be made in non-designated ports;

All transfer operations must be monitored by video camera in the water (as provided for by point 81 and Annex 9 to ICCAT Recommendation 12-03).

An ICCAT transfer declaration shall be sent to the flag State at the end of the transfer operation (as provided for by point 79 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03);

A transfer shall be authorised within 48 hours following the submission of the prior transfer notification (as provided for by point 78 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03);

An authorisation number shall be assigned to each transfer operation (as provided for by point 78 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03);

Any transfer operations must have been authorised previously by the flag States on the basis of a prior transfer notification (as provided for by point 77 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03);

Benchmarks at sea shall refer to the number of patrol days at sea in the bluefin tuna recovery specific area and shall refer as well to the number of patrol days identifying the fishing season and the type of fishing activity targeted.

Benchmark, to be set after a detailed analysis of the fishing activity in each area;

Fish shall be caged before 15 August unless valid reason as per Recommendation. 12-03 (as provided for by paragraph 85).

All caging and harvesting operations shall be inspected, by the competent authorities of the farm Member State in accordance with the relevant control obligations laid down ICCAT Recommendation 06-07 and 12-03;

The CPC under whose jurisdiction the farm for bluefin tuna is located shall take the necessary measures to prohibit placing in cages for farming or fattening bluefin tuna that are not accompanied by the documents required by ICCAT as confirmed and validated by the catching vessel or trap Flag State authorities (1) (as provided for by point 86 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03);

All caging operation into a farm must have been authorised by the flag Member State of the catching vessel within 48 hours following the submission of the information required for the caging operation;

the control of all documents required by the legislation applicable to bluefin tuna, in particular verifying the reliability of the information recorded.

the full monitoring of caging operations taking place in the EU waters;

The benchmarks set out in this Annex shall be implemented so as to ensure in particular:

ANNEX II

PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED BY OFFICIALS

1. Inspection tasks

1.1. General inspection tasks

An inspection report shall be drawn up for each control and inspection, in the appropriate format as established in point 2 of this Annex. Officials shall in any case verify and note in their report the following information:

(1) the details of the identity of the responsible persons, as well as those of the vessel, farm, trap, personnel etc. involved in the activities inspected;

(2) the authorisations, licences and fishing authorisation;

(3) relevant vessel documentation such as the logbooks, transfer and transhipment declarations, ICCAT bluefin tuna catch documents, re-export certificates and other documentation examined for the purpose of the control and inspection as provided for by ICCAT Recommendation 12-03;

(4) detailed observation of the sizes of bluefin tuna caught, trapped, transferred, transhipped, landed, transported, farmed, processed or traded in the context of compliance with the provisions of the recovery plan;

(5) the by-catch percentage of bluefin tuna retained on board vessels not fishing actively for bluefin tuna.

The information referred to all relevant findings from the inspection done at sea, by aerial surveillance, in ports, traps, farms or in any other enterprise concerned shall be noted in the inspection reports. In case of an inspection in the framework of the ICCAT Scheme of Joint International Inspection, the inspection party should register the inspections undertaken and any infringements detected in the vessel log.

Those findings shall be compared with the information made available to the officials by other competent authorities, including Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) information, lists of authorised vessels, observer’s reports, video records and all documents related to fishing activities.

1.2. Inspection tasks for aerial surveillance

Officials shall report on surveillance data for cross-checking purposes, and in particular verify sightings of fishing vessels against VMS and authorised lists.

Officials shall sight and report on Illegal Unidentified and Unreported (IUU) fishing activities, and on the use of spotting aircrafts or helicopters.

Particular attention shall be devoted to closure areas, fishing season’s periods as defined in point 21 to 26 of ICCAT Recommendation 12-03, and to the activities of fleets for which derogations apply.

1.3. Inspection tasks at sea

1.3.1. General inspection tasks

Where dead fish are onboard a catching vessel or present onboard any other vessel, officials shall always verify if the fish is legally retained on board. Officials shall verify the quantities of all fish species retained on board in order to ensure compliance with ICCAT by-catch and minimum size rules.

Where live fish are being transferred, officials shall seek to identify the means used by the parties involved to estimate the quantities, expressed in numbers (2) of live bluefin tuna transferred. Where video footage is available, officials shall gain access to, verify the quantities transferred as observed by the video footage and verify that the video footage respects the minimum standards for video recording procedures as defined in Annex 9 to ICCAT Recommendation 12-03.

Officials shall systematically verify during all inspections:

(1) that the fishing vessels are authorised to operate (markings, identity, licence, fishing authorisation and ICCAT lists);

(2) compliance with the vessel documentation requirements;

(3) that the fishing vessels are equipped with an operational VMS and that requirements on VMS transmission are respected;

(4) fishing vessels are not operating inside close areas and are respecting the closure of fishing seasons;

(5) respect of quotas and by-catch limitations;

(6) the size composition of catches on board;

(7) the physical quantities of catches on board, and their presentation;

(8) the fishing gear on board;

(9) the presence of an observer where it is relevant.

Officials shall sight and report on IUU fishing activities, and on the use of spotting aircrafts or helicopters.

1.3.2. Inspection tasks at transfer operations

Officials shall systematically verify:

(1) compliance with the requirements regarding the prior transfer notification (where possible);

(2) that the flag State has assigned and communicated to the master of the fishing vessel, or trap or farm as appropriate, an authorisation number for each transfer operation within 48 hours following the submission of the prior transfer notification;

(3) compliance with the ICCAT transfer declaration requirements;

(4) if the transfer declaration has been signed by the ICCAT regional observer on board and transmitted to the master of the towing vessel;

(5) Compliance with the video recording requirements as defined in Annex 9 to ICCAT Recommendation 12-03.

1.3.3. Inspection tasks at joint fishing operations

Officials shall systematically verify:

(1) compliance with the joint fishing operations’ requirements regarding the information to be reported in the fishing logbook including allocation key;

(2) that a joint fishing operation authorisation has been delivered to the fishing vessels by their flag States authorities using the model set out in Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 302/2009;

(3) the presence of an ICCAT regional observer during the joint fishing operation.

1.4. Inspection tasks at landing

Officials shall systematically verify for those landings inspected in accordance with the provisions laid down in Recommendation 12-03:

(1) that fishing vessels are authorised to operate (markings, identity, licence, fishing authorisation and ICCAT lists, if relevant);

(2) that the pre-notification of arrival for landing was received in due time by the competent authorities;

(3) that a record of the landing is sent to the flag State authority of the fishing vessel, within 48 hours after the landing has ended;

(4) that an accurate landing declaration is sent by the master of the catching vessel within 48 hours after the landing has ended to his/her flag state authorities and port state authorities where applicable;

(5) that the fishing vessels are equipped with an operational VMS and that requirements on VMS transmission are respected;

(6) compliance with the vessel documentation requirements;

(7) the physical quantities of bluefin tuna on board, and presentation;

(8) the total catch composition on board in order to verify the respect of by-catch rules and, in the case of longliners, the implementation of relevant management measures;

(9) the size composition of catches of bluefin tuna on board in order to verify the minimum size rules);

(10) the fishing gears on board;

(11) in the case of landing of processed products, the use of the ICCAT conversion factors to calculate the equivalent round weight of the processed bluefin tuna;

(12) that the bluefin tuna offered for retail sale to the final consumer, from fishing vessels and/or traps in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, is correctly marked or labelled;

(13) that the bluefin tuna landed by the bait boats, long liners, hand liners or trolling boats in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean is correctly tail tagged where applicable.

1.5. Inspection tasks during transhipment

Officials shall systematically verify:

(1) that the fishing vessels are authorised to operate (markings, identity, licence, fishing authorisation and ICCAT lists);

(2) that the pre-notification of arrival in port was sent and contained the correct information concerning the transhipment;

(3) that transhipping fishing vessels wishing to tranship have received prior authorisation from their flag State;

(4) that the quantities pre-notified to be transhipped are verified;

(5) that a transhipment declaration has been transmitted to the Port State States no later than 48 hours after the date of transhipment in port;

(6) that the relevant documentation is on board is present and duly completed, including the transhipment declaration, the relevant and ICCAT bluefin tuna catch document and re-export certificate;

(7) in the case of processed products, the use of the ICCAT conversion factors to calculate the equivalent round weight of the processed bluefin tuna.

1.6. Inspection tasks on farm installations

Officials shall systematically verify:

(1) that the relevant documentation is present and duly completed and reported (bluefin tuna catch document and re-export certificate, transfer and caging declarations, transhipment declaration);

(2) that the caging operation has been previously authorised by the catching vessel flag State authorities;

(3) that an ICCAT regional observer was present during all transfer, caging and harvesting of bluefin tuna, and has validated the caging declarations;

(4) that all the transfer and caging activities in the farm have been monitored by video camera in the water, and that the video record is made available for the inspectors and complies with the video recording requirements as defined in Annex 9 to ICCAT Recommendation 12-03.

(5) that all caging activities have been subject to a programme using stereoscopical cameras or techniques that provide the equivalent precision in order to refine the number and weight of fish being caged;

(6) that the farming State will not accept caging of bluefin tuna where the quantity by number and/or weight above that authorised to be caged by the flag State.

1.7. Inspection tasks concerning transports and marketing

Officials shall systematically verify:

(1) as regards transport, in particular the relevant accompanying documents and check them against the physical quantities transported;

(2) as regards marketing, that the relevant documentation is present and duly completed, including the relevant bluefin tuna catch document and re-export certificate.

2. Inspection reports

(1) For the inspections undertaken in the framework of the ICCAT Scheme of Joint International Inspection, officials shall use the template of the Appendix to this Annex.