NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement.

The Scheme of Control and Enforcement Scheme (Scheme) of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) shall apply to all fishing vessels used or intended for use for the purposes of fishing activities conducted on fisheries resources in the (NEAFC) Regulatory Area. The Scheme is divided into 7 Chapters; General Provisions (I); Control Measures (II); Monitoring of Fisheries (III); Vessel Requirements and Chartering (III); Inspections at Sea (IV); Port State Control of Foreign Vessels (V); Infringements (VI); Measures to Promote Compliance by Non-Contracting Party Fishing Vessels (VII). It is completed by a large number of Annexes.
Conservation measure set out in Chapter II concern, among other things: authorisation to fish, notification of fishing vessels, vessel requirements, marking of gear, removal and disposal of unmarked or illegal fixed gear, retrieval of lost fixed gear, labelling of frozen fish. Each Contracting Party shall notify, in computer readable form, to the Secretary prior to 1 January of each year if possible, or in any case before the vessel’s entry into the Regulatory Area, all fishing vessels authorised to fish and notably whether the vessel is authorised to fish one or more regulated resource. No fishing vessel shall conduct fishing activities in the Regulatory Area unless it is listed as a notified vessel.
Port State control as provided for in Chapter V shall apply to the use of ports of Contracting Parties by fishing vessels with catch on board of fisheries resources that have been caught in the Convention Area by foreign fishing vessels and that have not been previously landed or transhipped at a port. The provisions of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (FAO PSMA) shall apply mutatis mutandis as a minimum standard for the Port State Control of foreign fishing vessels, other provisions of this Scheme notwithstanding. Contracting Parties shall cooperate in the effective implementation of the FAO PSMA and in the exchange of information relevant to the implementation of the Scheme. When Contracting Parties have adopted and implemented measures consistent with FAO PSMA, they shall transmit to the Secretary a statement on actions taken. The Secretary shall circulate these statements to all Contracting Parties. Contracting Parties shall designate ports where landings or transhipment operations and provisions of port services are permitted. Other provisions of Chapter V concern access to and use of designated ports, and inspections. Landing, transhipment and other use of ports shall not be authorised if the port State receives clear evidence that the catch on board was taken in contravention of applicable requirements of a Contracting Party in respect of areas under its national jurisdiction. Contracting Parties shall provide at least the information specified in the Annex XIX when designating ports.
Chapter VII contains provisions on port State measures that apply to non-Contracting Parties. The provisions of the FAO PSMA shall apply mutatis mutandis as a minimum standard for the Port State Control of non-Contracting Party vessels, without prejudice to additional provisions contained in Articles 21-27. The Chapter also concerns other control of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) activities as referred to in paragraph 3 of the FAO International Plan of Action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and listing of IUU vessels.
Annex XVIII sets out port State inspection procedures, as follows: (I) verification of vessel identification documentation, vessel’s flag and markings, authorizations for fishing and fishing related activities; (II) control of all other relevant documentation and records, including logbooks, catch, transhipment and trade documents, crew lists, stowage plans and drawings, descriptions of fish holds, and documents required pursuant to CITES; (III) examination of all relevant fishing gear onboard; (IV) monitoring of the entire discharge or transhipment; (V) verification of the quantities by species of fish when the landing or transhipment is completed; (VI) evaluation whether there is clear evidence for believing that a vessel has engaged in IUU fishing or fishing related activities in support of such fishing; and (VII) submittal of the report containing the result of the inspection to the master of vessel.