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Dan MacMeekin         Attorney at Law        Washington, DC, USA

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1. Each member of the Commission shall take such measures as may be necessary to ensure that:

(a) fishing vessels flying its flag comply with the provisions of this Convention and the conservation and management measures adopted pursuant hereto and that such vessels do not engage in any activity which undermine the effectiveness of such measures; and

(b) fishing vessels flying its flag do not conduct unauthorized fishing within areas under the national jurisdiction of any Contracting Party.

2. No member of the Commission shall allow any fishing vessel entitled to fly its flag to be used for fishing for highly migratory fish stocks in the Convention Area beyond areas of national jurisdiction unless it has been authorized to do so by the appropriate authority or authorities of that member. A member of the Commission shall authorize the use of vessels flying its flag for fishing in the Convention Area beyond areas of national jurisdiction only where it is able to exercise effectively its responsibilities in respect of such vessels under the 1982 Convention, the Agreement and this Convention.

3. It shall be a condition of every authorization issued by a member of the Commission that the fishing vessel in respect of which the authorization is issued:

(a) conducts fishing within areas under the national jurisdiction of other States only where the fishing vessel holds any licence, permit or authorization that may be required by such other State; and

(b) is operated on the high seas in the Convention Area in accordance with the requirements of Annex III, the requirements of which shall also be established as a general obligation of all vessels operating pursuant to this Convention.

4. Each member of the Commission shall, for the purposes of effective implementation of this Convention, maintain a record of fishing vessels entitled to fly its flag and authorized to be used for fishing in the Convention Area beyond its area of national jurisdiction, and shall ensure that all such fishing vessels are entered in that record.

5. Each member of the Commission shall provide annually to the Commission, in accordance with such procedures as may be agreed by the Commission, the information set out in Annex IV to this Convention with respect to each fishing vessel entered in the record required to be maintained under paragraph 4 and shall promptly notify the Commission of any modifications to such information.

6. Each member of the Commission shall also promptly inform the Commission of:

(a) any additions to the record;

(b) any deletions from the record by reason of:

(i) the voluntary relinquishment or non-renewal of the fishing authorization by the fishing vessel owner or operator;

(ii) the withdrawal of the fishing authorization issued in respect of the fishing vessel under paragraph 2;

(iii) the fact that the fishing vessel concerned is no longer entitled to fly its flag;

(iv) the scrapping, decommissioning or loss of the fishing vessel concerned; and

(v) any other reason,

specifying which of the reasons listed above is applicable.

7. The Commission shall maintain its own record, based on the information provided to it pursuant to paragraphs 5 and 6, of fishing vessels referred to in paragraph 4. The Commission shall circulate periodically the information contained in such record to all members of the Commission, and, on request, individually to any member.

8. Each member of the Commission shall require its fishing vessels that fish for highly migratory fish stocks on the high seas in the Convention Area to use near real-time satellite position-fixing transmitters while in such areas. The standards, specifications and procedures for the use of such transmitters shall be established by the Commission, which shall operate a vessel monitoring system for all vessels that fish for highly migratory fish stocks on the high seas in the Convention Area. In establishing such standards, specifications and procedures, the Commission shall take into account the characteristics of traditional fishing vessels from developing States. The Commission, directly, and simultaneously with the flag State where the flag State so requires, or through such other organization designated by the Commission, shall receive information from the vessel monitoring system in accordance with the procedures adopted by the Commission. The procedures adopted by the Commission shall include appropriate measures to protect the confidentiality of information received through the vessel monitoring system. Any member of the Commission may request that waters under its national jurisdiction be included within the area covered by such vessel monitoring system.

9. Each member of the Commission shall require its fishing vessels that fish in the Convention Area in areas under the national jurisdiction of another member to operate near real-time satellite position-fixing transmitters in accordance with the standards, specification and procedures to be determined by the coastal State.

10. The members of the Commission shall cooperate to ensure compatibility between national and high seas vessel monitoring systems.

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