A report on iUU fishing of Baltic Sea cod - Fisheries Secretariat

General headings/Sub-headingsDetail of conditions for fishing andobligations on Member State authoritiesAnalysis and commentsDesignated ports• If a vessel has > 750 kgs of cod on board it must onlyland at a designated port.Member States that have designated ports are obligedto publish them on their official website. Some of thedesignated ports are so large that potential landing sitesare many and so difficult to monitor. Designated timeand place of landing would be more effective.Weighing of cod• Authorities may have any quantity of cod weighedbefore it is transported.This obliges the various people involved on dischargingto comply with inspectors’ wishes.VMS messages• The VMS is minimally required to record the entry andexit from port and between sea areas where rules onaccess and stocks are in place.The Member States are required to have a system inplace that allows for cross-checking VMS data withlogsheets. The Commission is able to request thisinformation. This provides an indicator that necessarychecks are in place.Trans-shipment• Trans-shipment (the transfer between vessels) of cod isprohibited.During interviews (see page 15) it was confirmed thattrans-shipment of pelagic species between Russian andsome EU vessels has taken place in the recent past. Onboardinspection is required to confirm that excessivequantities cod are not involved.Transport• A landing declaration must accompany quantities ofcod > 50 kgs that have been landed by vessels ≥ 8 min length.This is meant to ensure that if the vehicle is inspectedat any point during its journey there will be documentationto show the origin of the cod.Joint working• Member States are required to undertake “joint operationalprocedures” with other Member States.As well as other Member State inspectors, Commissioninspectors may also participate.Nationalcontrol actionprogrammes• Member States are required to develop and publish ontheir official websites a national control plan.• Common rules for national control programmes havebeen set:(a) Inspection and surveillance will focus on vesselslikely to catch cod and priorities will be set onthose sectors most affected by fishing opportunities;(b) Random checking of transport and marketing ofcod;(c) Cross-checking to test the effectiveness of inspectionand surveillance;(d) “Benchmarks” will be set by each Member Stateand advertised on official websites which will aimto meet the following targets:– Inspections will aim to cover 20% (by weight) ofcod landings, or, that in a 3 month period thevessels that account for 20% or more of the codlandings are inspected at least once.– Market inspections will aim to cover at least 5%of cod that is offered for auction.– Patrol days in the cod management areas.– Aerial surveillance effort.• Member States are required to aim to specify in theircontrol programmes the following:(a) the number of shore-based and sea-going inspectorsand when and where they are deployed;(b) the number of patrol vessels and aircraft and theareas in which they will be deployed;(c) the budget for undertaking enforcement;(d) a list of designated ports;(e) a description of how compliance is achieved inthe requirement for prior notification;The Member States are able to set their own “benchmarks”and only have to “aim” to specify their meansof control. Therefore, the minimum for each need onlybe applied.Information should be displayed on national authoritieswebsites by 31 January. At the time of writing themajority of Member States had failed to provide theinformation in this form.Common rules are established but there is no commoninspection protocol or criteria so, for example, a vesselcould land in Sweden and be inspected in one wayand then land in Poland and be inspected in a differentway. A standardised approach may provide for improvedconfidence in inspections, however, there wouldstill need to be checks undertaken by the Commissionto ensure that the standard was being upheld.– 46 –