Management of shared fish stocks: coastal state agreed records 2023

1.    A delegation from Norway, headed by Ms Ann Kristin WESTBERG, a delegation from the European Union, headed by Mr Thomas BREGEON, a delegation from the Faroe Islands, headed by Mr Herluf SIGVALDSSON, a delegation from Greenland headed by Ms Iben FUNCH DØJ, a delegation from Iceland, headed by Ms Áslaug Eir HÓLMGEIRSDÓTTIR   and a delegation from the United Kingdom, headed by Mr Colin FAULKNER , met November  2022 to consult on control measures for pelagic stocks in the North-East Atlantic. 

2.    The Delegations took note of the previous work of the Coastal States Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Working Group (CS MCS WG) and their report for 2018-2019. The report included recommendations on control measures for the mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting and horse mackerel fisheries. The Delegations noted that experts from coastal States took part in the meetings of the CS MCS WG. The Delegations also noted that the CS MCS WG also met in 2020. The meetings were held on virtual platforms due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

3.    The Heads of Delegation agreed to recommend to their respective authorities to introduce the agreed management and control measures for pelagic stocks (mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting and horse mackerel) as set out in Annex I-V. The Delegations noted that not all Parties are coastal States to the stocks covered by the Agreed Record, and that not all Parties fish on all of these stocks. In these cases, the Delegations agreed that the measures in any case shall apply when these stocks are landed in their ports. 

4.    The Delegations agreed that the measures outlined in the Annexes shall be applied to landings exceeding 10 tonnes. Furthermore, the Delegations agreed to share the list of ports designated for landings of pelagic stocks which may be used by other Parties. The list and any updates shall be circulated through NEAFC and/or by other means.

5.    The Delegations recognized the need to cooperate to further improve the harmonized management measures to secure a correct account of all catches and landings of mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting and horse mackerel. 

6.    The Delegations agreed to apply the Terms of Reference for a CS MCS WG for 2023 and 2024 included in Annex VI.

7.    With regard to deduction of water for landings for human consumption, cf. Annex III paragraph 1, the Delegations agreed to review this level before this Agreed Record enters into force, cf. paragraph 12, based on recommendations by the CS MCS WG. 

8.    As far as fish landed frozen is concerned, the European Union noted that the evaluation regarding the fixed 1.5 kg tare weight for frozen fisheries products is ongoing and that it would be able to share the initial results through the CS MCS WG. The Delegations agreed that the report from this evaluation should be presented to the CS MCS WG with the objective to consider the findings, and recommend measures that will allow a level playing field.

9.    Furthermore, the Delegations agreed to engage in testing technological solutions to be used on board fishing vessel to monitor their activity. The Delegations agreed that the CS MCS WG shall examine best practices on implementation and coverage of pilot projects of such technological solutions.

10.    With reference to Annex I paragraph 7, the Delegations Agreed to mandate the CS MCS WG to consider how improved and innovative methods to utilise the whole fish can be implemented on board fishing vessels, in particular with regard to the use of graders, and at the same time attend the need to ensure compliance with current regulations through monitoring, control and surveillance measures. The Delegations noted that relevant technical regulations of the coastal State apply to vessels fishing in the waters of that coastal State.

11.    The Delegations noted that this Agreed Record replaces the Agreed Record on Control Measures for pelagic stocks in the North-East Atlantic for 2020 signed by the European Union, Faroe Islands and Norway on 22 April 2020.

12.    The Delegations agreed to apply the arrangements outlined in this Agreed Record at the latest from 1 January 2026. 

November 2022

Ann Kristin WESTBERG                                             
For the Delegation of Norway  

Thomas BREGEON  
For the Delegation of the European Union

Herluf SIGVALDSSON     
For the Delegation of the Faroe Islands             

Iben FUNCH DØJ
For the Delegation of Greenland

Áslaug Eir HÓLMGEIRSDÓTTIR            
For the delegation of Iceland     

Colin FAULKNER
For the Delegation of the United Kingdom      

Annex 1 - Measures to be monitored concerning slipping, discards and high-grading of pelagic stocks

1.    Compliance with any discard ban or landing obligation of the pelagic stocks, is mandatory throughout the entire migratory range of the stocks in the North-East Atlantic.

2.    Slipping (releasing the fish from the net once the net has been retrieved past a point that will result in the loss of dead or dying fish) of the pelagic stocks is a form of discarding. Discarding is banned throughout the entire migratory range of the pelagic stocks in the North-East Atlantic.

3.    Fishing vessels shall move their fishing grounds when the haul contains more than 10% of undersized fish (below the minimum landing sizes or the minimum catching sizes) of these species.

4.    The maximum space between bars in the water separator on board fishing vessels shall be 10mm. The bars must be welded in place. If holes are used in the water separator instead of bars, the maximum diameter of the holes must not exceed 10mm. Holes in the chutes before the water separator must not exceed 15mm in diameter.

5.    The possibility to discharge fish under the water line of the vessel shall be prohibited. Any discharge points under the waterline shall be sealed or monitored by electronic means, and added to the drawing requirements described in paragraph 6. Data on the electronic monitoring shall be available to the control authorities. 

6.    Drawings related to catch handling and to discharge capabilities of the vessels, which are certified by the competent authorities of the flag State, as well as any modifications thereto shall be sent to the competent fisheries authorities of the flag State. The competent authorities of the flag State of the vessel shall carry out periodic verifications of the accuracy of the drawings submitted. Copies shall be carried on board at all times.

7.    Unless the whole of the catch is frozen on board the vessel, the carrying or use on board a fishing vessel of equipment, which is capable of automatically grading mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting or horse mackerel by size, is prohibited. This prohibition does not apply:
a.    if grading equipment on board the vessel has been removed from a power source, and sealed by competent authorities prior to the start of the fishing trip rendering the grading system unable to be used, 
b.    for fishing vessels that carry more than 75 % of the catch frozen or in the process of being frozen during that trip, 
c.    if fishing vessels are equipped with remote electronic monitoring systems on board for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the landing obligation, or
d.    if fishing vessels have observers on board with the purpose of monitoring compliance with the landing obligation. 

All graded fish shall be frozen immediately after grading, processing and packing. The requirement to freeze all graded catches does not apply to byproducts (for example offal, heads, etc.), or bycatch, broken fish or fish not suitable for human consumption processed to fish meal after grading.  

Annex II - Measures to be applied concerning inspection of pelagic landings 

1.    Landings shall take place in designated ports. Masters of fishing vessels shall submit prior notice of landing including notification of catch on board and submit the estimated catch information to the competent authorities before arrival at port.

2.    The processor or buyer of the fish shall submit sales information for the payment of the quantities landed to the competent authorities. In cases where fish is placed in storage for a period of time after landings before being sold, information on the catch (weighing note/landing declaration, etc.) should be submitted to the competent authorities. 

3.    A minimum of 5% of landings and 7.5% of the quantities landed for each species should be subject to a full inspection. This should be based on a risk assessment. A full inspection shall also include cross checks of prior notifications and information submitted to competent authorities of estimated catch, weighing and sales information.

In the case of vessels pumping catch ashore the weighing of the entire discharge from the vessels selected for inspection shall be monitored and a cross-check undertaken between the quantities by species recorded in the landing declaration or sales note and the record of weighing held by the buyer or processor of the fish.

In the case of freezer trawlers, the entire discharge of fish and counting of boxes shall be monitored. The sample weighing of boxes/pallets carried out in order to determine the tare weight shall also be monitored.

It shall be verified that the vessel is empty, once the discharge has been completed.

4.    In each case where the checks reveal a significant discrepancy it shall be followed up as an infringement.

Annex III - Measures to be applied concerning weighing of pelagic landings

1.    All quantities of fresh mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting or horse mackerel landed must be weighed before sorting and processing. When determining the weight, any deduction for water shall not exceed 2% for landings for human consumption and 0% for landings for industrial purposes.

2.    For fish landed frozen the weight shall be determined by weighing all the boxes minus the tare weight (cardboard and plastic) or by multiplying the total number of boxes landed by the average weight of the boxes minus tare weight landed in the same shipment calculated in accordance with an agreed sampling methodology.

Annex IV - Measures to be applied concerning weighing systems used for pelagic landings

1.    General requirements for all weighing systems

1.1.         Weighing data (including at least quantities, vessel, time stamp and other relevant information) concerning landings shall be stored by those responsible for the weighing. Competent authorities  shall be given real-time access to such data. Data shall be stored securely for a minimum of 3 years.

1.2.          All changes in parameters and functions in the weighing system that effect the weighing result shall be logged. Such changes shall be logged with date and time.

1.3.    Taking regard of personal data protection regulations, surveillance by camera and sensor technologies shall be mandatory at the landing and processing facilities for landings of the pelagic stocks and where more than 3,000 tonnes per year are weighed. The surveillance shall apply to the landing process and weighing locations and cover the flow of landed fish until the weighing has been completed. This requirement does not apply to transportation of landed catches to the processing plant. Competent authorities shall have access to camera footage by data stored and if required by competent authorities by live stream.

1.4.         The weighing indicator shall be located in or close to and visible from the weighing unit.

1.5.         To prevent manipulation of the weighing system, critical functions shall be secured by sealing as determined by the competent authorities. 

1.6.         The competent authorities shall have immediate access to the weighing system.

2.    Special requirements for belt weighing systems (flow scales)     

2.1.         The weighing instrument shall have a counting device that has a total running number of minimum eight digits.

2.2.         The belt weighing system shall have a stop function. This function shall automatically stop feeding of fish to the belt weighing system if there are detectable errors or if the weighing system cannot carry out weighing.

2.3.         The belt weighing system shall have an automatic zero setting function to be activated prior to the start of the weighing operations and at a frequency to be determined by the competent authority. 

3.    Special requirements for batch weighing scales

3.1.         The weighing instrument shall have a counting device that have a total running number of minimum eight digits.

3.2.         The batch weighing system shall have a stop function. This function automatically stop feeding of fish to the batch weighing system if there are detectable errors or if the weighing system cannot carry out weighing. 

3.2.1.    The pressure sensor shall be a part of the stop function to secure sufficient pressure to hatch functions.

3.2.2.    To prevent free flow of unweighted material through the batch scales sensors shall detect the position of the hatch.

4.    Special requirements for pallet scales (non-automatic weighing instrument).

4.1.                Pallet scales shall have automatic or semi-automatic log of pallet weighing. 

Annex V - Measures to be applied concerning landings for industrial purposes 

The following measures shall be applied for all species landed for industrial purposes: 

1.    All species landed shall pass through a water draining system before weighing.

2.    It is prohibited with arrangements that may contribute to loss of biological material between the water draining system and the weighing system.

3.    Drum sieve systems

3.1.     During landing, landed material shall go through only one drum sieve for water draining before weighing.

3.2.     The filtering holes in the drum sieve shall not exceed 10 mm.

3.3.     The inside diameter of the drum sieve shall not exceed 1700 mm.

3.4.     The length of the sieves before weighing, excluding conveyor belts, shall not exceed 11 meters in total.

3.5.     Rotation speed of the drum sieve shall not exceed 28 rounds per minute.

3.6.     Light opening in the filtering area shall not exceed 45%.

4.    Belt draining systems

4.1.     In the front sieve, the bar distance or filtering holes shall not exceed 10mm.

4.2.     The width of the conveyer steel belt shall be 1.8 – 2.5 meter.

4.3.     The length of the conveyer steel belt shall not be less than 2.6 meter and not more than 10 meters.

Annex VI - Terms of reference for a coastal states monitoring, control and surveillance working group (CS MCS WG) for 2023-2024  

The Coastal States Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Working Group should meet as appropriate under the following Terms of Reference: 

Representatives of the Parties should meet as appropriate and no later than 31 January 2023 to plan and prioritize the activities of the Working Group. 

The Working Group should submit its reports 30 days in advance of the coastal State consultations each year.

The objective of the Working Group should be to establish best practice in monitoring, control and surveillance both at sea and on land, and recommend harmonised MCS measures with the objective to increase compliance and secure a level playing field for fisheries on the following pelagic stocks; mackerel, Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) herring, blue whiting and horse mackerel. 

The Working Group should be composed of operational MCS experts who, in their role as technical experts, shall provide professional advice on relevant MCS measures to be discussed in the Working Group. The Working Group may also rely on the assistance on experts on the fields relating to the tasks described below. The Working Group may, at the appropriate level, share information on MCS. 

The operational MCS Experts should:

1)    Consider and recommend measures to avoid the deduction of fish as water that will allow a level playing field in this regard, possibly including the further reduction in a stepwise approach of allowed water deduction from 2 % for landings for human consumption and the use of tare deduction for landings of pelagic species. 

2)    Continue to follow up the interagency cooperation between fisheries authorities and metrology services and the implementation of weighing requirements outlined in Annex IV.  

3)    Follow up requirements for the use of water draining installations used on landings for industrial purposes outlined in Annex V and consider the effect of such installations with regard to loss of biological material.

4)    Review sampling systems and sampling plans in use for unsorted landings and, as appropriate, recommend measures on this topic.

5)    Map existing minimum catch and landing sizes of the Parties and recommend follow up procedures, including current regimes on move on provisions.

6)    Recommend a sampling methodology to weigh fish landed frozen.

7)    Map experience and knowledge on the use of technological solutions, e.g. CCTV, sensors, artificial intelligence, to reduce slipping, discarding and high-grading in pelagic fisheries and to improve catch documentation on board fishing vessels, and as appropriate recommend measures on this topic.

8)    To review the agreed measures concerning the inspection of pelagic landings and, as appropriate, recommend measures on this topic.

9)    Map current practice and regulations regarding use of fish meal, ensilage and surimi production systems on board fishing vessels and consider how improved and innovative methods to utilise the whole fish can be implemented on board fishing vessels, in particular with regard to the use of graders, and at the same time attend the need to ensure compliance with current regulations through monitoring, control and surveillance measures.

10)    Map current regulations regarding slipping in pelagic fisheries.

If there are any other relevant issues, which the MCS Experts believes would result in a more efficient Monitoring, Control and Surveillance of pelagic fisheries, the MCS Experts could explore these as appropriate.