S.L. 425.16 Art. 7Bluefin tuna towing and transfers at sea.

(1) The master of a towing vessel shall ensure the towing vessel is:

(a) equipped with a fully operational VMS at all times during its activity as a towing vessel;

(b) capable of transmitting VMS data to the ICCAT Secretariat at least five (5) days before and continue at least 5 days after its period of operation, as may be authorised by the Director or the competent authority of a foreign State;

(c) transmitting VMS data without interruption when the vessel is in port, unless there is a system of hailing in and out of port;

(d) in the event of a technical failure of its VMS, equipped with a fully functional VMS at the earliest, except in cases of as communicated to the Director and the force majeure ICCAT Secretariat:

Provided that upon such failure and every four (4) hours, the master or his representative shall communicate to the Director the up-to-date geographical coordinates of the towing vessel by appropriate telecommunication means; and

(e) at a minimum distance of 0.5 nautical miles, or at such other distance as may be ordered by the Director, from an aquaculture establishment when carrying a transport cage and until fisheries protection officers are present on site.

(2) Any transfer of bluefin tuna in cages shall be subject to a prior notification sent to the Director, including, as applicable:

(a) the number and the estimated weight of bluefin tuna to be transferred;

(b) the name of the relevant catching vessel, towing vessel, aquaculture establishment or trap, and their respective ICCAT number record;

(c) the date and the location of the catch;

(d) the estimated position indicating latitude and longitude where the transfer will take place;

(e) the donor and, or receiving aquaculture establishment and the relevant aquaculture cages; and

(f) any other information as requested by the Director.

(3) Any person responsible for transfer operations and associated transports shall ensure that at all times any cages used for such activities are numbered, in a visible and legible manner, in accordance with a unique numbering system that includes the letters EU.MLT, followed by three numbers, and a code established by the Director for the particular operator, as may be required by the Director:

Provided that if the relevant operator is not registered in Malta, the applicable letters shall be those identified by the foreign competent authority.

(4) Each transfer operation shall require a transfer authorisation as may be issued by the Director or by a foreign competent authority, as applicable:

Provided that a transfer authorisation shall not be issued if the transfer operation is not conducted according to these regulations.

(5) The transfer authorisations referred in sub-regulation (4) shall be numbered with MLT, followed by four numbers for the year and three letters to indicate either positive (AUT) or negative (NEG) authorisation, followed by the applicable sequential numbers:

Provided that if the relevant transfer does not fall within the competence of Malta, the applicable letters shall be those identified according to the foreign competent authority.

(6) The separation of the transport cage from a purse seine or a trap shall not occur before the transport operation concerned is completed according to sub-regulation (7) and, if applicable, the ICCAT regional observer has completed his tasks.

(7) A transfer operation shall be considered completed when:

(a) the ITD and the relevant video record are transmitted to the master of the receiving towing vessel and to the ICCAT regional observer or the national observer, as applicable;

(b) a copy of the ITD has been sent to the Director or the competent authority of the donor operator, as applicable; and

(c) the transfer section of the eBCD, when applicable, has been completed by the donor operator.