TITLE IIFISHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNION FISHING VESSELS
CHAPTER IIIFishing opportunities in waters of regional fisheries management organisations
Section 5IATTC Convention Area
Article 27Purse-seine fisheries
1
Fishing by purse-seine vessels for yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) shall be prohibited:
a
from 29 July to 28 September 2017 or from 18 November 2017 to 18 January 2018 in the area defined by the following limits:
the Pacific coastlines of the Americas,
longitude 150° W,
latitude 40° N,
latitude 40° S;
b
from 29 September to 29 October 2017 in the area defined by the following limits:
longitude 96° W,
longitude 110° W,
latitude 4° N,
latitude 3° S.
2
The Member States concerned shall notify the Commission of the selected period of closure referred to in paragraph 1 before 1 April 2017. All the purse-seine vessels of the Member States concerned shall stop purse-seine fishing in the areas defined in paragraph 1 during the selected period.
F12a
Member States shall close the fishery for purse-seine vessels fishing with FADs and flying their flag when the catch limit allocated to that fishery is reached.
3
Purse-seine vessels fishing for tuna in the IATTC Convention Area shall retain on board and then land or tranship all yellowfin, bigeye and skipjack tuna caught.
4
Paragraph 3 shall not apply in the following cases:
a
where the fish is considered unfit for human consumption for reasons other than size; or
b
during the final set of a trip when there may be insufficient well space remaining to accommodate all the tuna caught in that set.