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1.This Regulation establishes a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
2.For the purposes of paragraph 1, each Member State shall take appropriate measures, in accordance with Community law, to ensure the effectiveness of that system. It shall place sufficient means at the disposal of its competent authorities to enable them to perform their tasks as laid down in this Regulation.
3.The system laid down in paragraph 1 shall apply to all IUU fishing and associated activities carried out within the territory of Member States to which the Treaty applies, within Community waters, within maritime waters under the jurisdiction or sovereignty of third countries and on the high seas. IUU fishing within maritime waters of the overseas territories and countries referred to in Annex II of the Treaty shall be treated as taking place within maritime waters of third countries.
For the purposes of this Regulation:
‘illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing’ or ‘IUU fishing’ means fishing activities which are illegal, unreported or unregulated;
‘illegal fishing’ means fishing activities:
conducted by national or foreign fishing vessels in maritime waters under the jurisdiction of a State, without the permission of that State, or in contravention of its laws and regulations;
conducted by fishing vessels flying the flag of States that are contracting parties to a relevant regional fisheries management organisation, but which operate in contravention of the conservation and management measures adopted by that organisation and by which those States are bound, or of relevant provisions of the applicable international law; or
conducted by fishing vessels in violation of national laws or international obligations, including those undertaken by cooperating States to a relevant regional fisheries management organisation;
‘unreported fishing’ means fishing activities:
which have not been reported, or have been misreported, to the relevant national authority, in contravention of national laws and regulations; or
which have been undertaken in the area of competence of a relevant regional fisheries management organisation and have not been reported, or have been misreported, in contravention of the reporting procedures of that organisation;
‘unregulated fishing’ means fishing activities:
conducted in the area of application of a relevant regional fisheries management organisation by fishing vessels without nationality, by fishing vessels flying the flag of a State not party to that organisation or by any other fishing entity, in a manner that is not consistent with or contravenes the conservation and management measures of that organisation; or
conducted in areas or for fish stocks in relation to which there are no applicable conservation or management measures by fishing vessels in a manner that is not consistent with State responsibilities for the conservation of living marine resources under international law;
‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel of any size used or intended for use for the purposes of commercial exploitation of fishery resources, including support ships, fish processing vessels, vessels engaged in transhipment and carrier vessels equipped for the transportation of fishery products, except container vessels;
‘Community fishing vessel’ means a fishing vessel flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Community;
‘fishing authorisation’ means entitlement to engage in fishing activities during a specified period, in a given area or for a given fishery;
‘fishery products’ mean any products which fall under Chapter 03 and Tariff headings 1604 and 1605 of the Combined Nomenclature established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff(1), with the exception of the products listed in Annex I of this Regulation;
‘conservation and management measures’ mean measures to conserve and manage one or more species of living marine resources and that are adopted and in force in accordance with the relevant rules of international and/or Community law;
‘transhipment’ means the unloading of all or any fishery products on board a fishing vessel to another fishing vessel;
‘importation’ means the introduction of fishery products into the territory of the Community, including for transhipment purposes at ports in its territory;
‘indirect importation’ means the importation from the territory of a third country other than the flag State of the fishing vessel responsible for the catch;
‘exportation’ means any movement to a third country of fishery products harvested by fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State, including from the territory of the Community, from third countries or from fishing grounds;
‘re-exportation’ means any movement from the territory of the Community of fishery products which had been previously imported into the territory of the Community;
‘regional fisheries management organisation’ means a subregional, regional or a similar organisation with competence, as recognised under international law, to establish conservation and management measures for living marine resources placed under its responsibility by virtue of the convention or agreement by which it was established;
‘contracting party’ means a contracting party to the international convention or agreement establishing a regional fisheries management organisation, as well as States, fishing entities or any other entities that cooperate with such an organisation and have been granted cooperating non-contracting party status with respect to such an organisation;
‘sighting’ means any observation by a Member State's competent authority responsible for inspection at sea, or by the master of a Community or third country fishing vessel of a fishing vessel that may fall under one or several of the criteria referred to in Article 3(1);
‘joint fishing operation’ means any operation between two or more fishing vessels where catch is transferred from the fishing gear of one fishing vessel to another or where the technique used by those fishing vessels requires one common fishing gear;
‘legal person’ means any legal entity having such status under the applicable national law, with the exception of States or public bodies in the exercise of State authority and public organisations;
‘risk’ means the likelihood of an event that may occur, with regard to fishery products imported into or exported from the territory of the Community, which prevents the correct application of this Regulation or of the conservation and management measures;
‘risk management’ means the systematic identification of risk and the implementation of all measures necessary for limiting exposure to risk. This includes activities such as collecting data and information, analysing and assessing risk, prescribing and taking action, and regular monitoring and review of the process and its outcomes, based on international, Community or national sources or strategies;
‘high seas’ means all the part of the sea as defined in Article 86 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos);
‘consignment’ means products which are either sent simultaneously from one exporter to one consignee or covered by a single transport document covering their shipment from the exporter to the consignee.
1.A fishing vessel shall be presumed to be engaged in IUU fishing if it is shown that, contrary to the conservation and management measures applicable in the fishing area concerned, it has:
(a)fished without a valid licence, authorisation or permit issued by the flag State or the relevant coastal State; or
(b)not fulfilled its obligations to record and report catch or catch-related data, including data to be transmitted by satellite vessel monitoring system, or prior notices under Article 6; or
(c)fished in a closed area, during a closed season, without or after attainment of a quota or beyond a closed depth; or
(d)engaged in directed fishing for a stock which is subject to a moratorium or for which fishing is prohibited; or
(e)used prohibited or non-compliant fishing gear; or
(f)falsified or concealed its markings, identity or registration; or
(g)concealed, tampered with or disposed of evidence relating to an investigation; or
(h)obstructed the work of officials in the exercise of their duties in inspecting for compliance with the applicable conservation and management measures; or the work of observers in the exercise of their duties of observing compliance with the applicable Community rules; or
(i)taken on board, transhipped or landed undersized fish in contravention of the legislation in force; or
(j)transhipped or participated in joint fishing operations with, supported or re-supplied other fishing vessels identified as having engaged in IUU fishing under this Regulation, in particular those included in the Community IUU vessel list or in the IUU vessel list of a regional fisheries management organisation; or
(k)carried out fishing activities in the area of a regional fisheries management organisation in a manner inconsistent with or in contravention of the conservation and management measures of that organisation and is flagged to a State not party to that organisation, or not cooperating with that organisation as established by that organisation; or
(l)no nationality and is therefore a stateless vessel, in accordance with international law.
2.The activities set out in paragraph 1 shall be considered as serious infringements in accordance with Article 42 depending on the gravity of the infringement in question which shall be determined by the competent authority of the Member State, taking into account the criteria such as the damage done, its value, the extent of the infringement or its repetition.