Chapter 13 Fisheries, 28 February 2011 Inspection and Control Regime

1. Chapter 13 Fisheries, 28 February 2011 Inspection and Control Regime

2. General regime – Legal references ■ Council regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 ■ Act on Fisheries Management No 116/2006 ■ Act on the Treatment of Commercial Marine Stocks No 57/1996 ■ Act on Fishing in Iceland’s Exclusive Fishing Zone No 79/1997 ■ Act on Fishing Outside Iceland’s Exclusive Fishing Zone No 151/1996 ■ Regulation No 662/2010 on Commercial Fishing for the Fishing Year 2010/2011 ■ Regulation No 557/2007 on Fishing Logbooks ■ Regulation No 224/2006 on Weighing and Registration of Marine Catch ■ Regulation No 910/2001 on Reporting Transactions of Marine Catch

3. General regime – Legal references • Regulation 1224/2009 establishes a Community system for control, inspection and enforcement to ensure compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy This Regulation applies to all activities covered by the CFP, carried out: ► on the territory of Member States or; ► in Community waters or: ► by Community fishing vessels or, ► by nationals of Member States This recently adopted Regulation marks a reform of the EU control system

4. General regime – Legal references The Icelandic control regime is well established and constantly developing through different acts and regulations Act on Fisheries Management No 116/2006 includes provisions on: ► fishing licences and authorisations in case of specific fishing activities ► the ITQ system ► logbooks and data submitting obligations ► monitoring and inspectors’ powers ► administrative sanctions and penalties

5. General regime – Legal references Act concerning the Treatment of Commercial Marine Stocks No 57/1996 Includes provisions on: ► banon discards ► weighing and registration of all landed catches ► monitoring and inspectors’ powers ► administrative sanctions and penalties Act on Fishing in Iceland’s Exclusive Fishing Zone No 79/1997 Includes provisions on: ► ban on foreign vessels fishing within Iceland’s EFZ ► ban on Icelandic vessels using bottom trawls, mid-water trawls and Danish seines, except in certain areas open for three different categories of vessels, according to length and engine power ► area closures ► monitoring and inspectors’ powers ► administrative sanctions and penalties

6. Important Institutions ■ Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture ▬ The Directorate of Fisheries ▬ The Marine Research Institute ■ The Ministry of the Interior ▬ The Coast Guard ▬ Ports of Landing

7. The Directorate of Fisheries • Takes care of the day-to-day administration of fisheries, aquaculture and whaling • Is responsible for implementing legislation on fisheries management • Collects and publishes data and other fisheries statistics • Issues fishing permits • Allocates catch quotas • Imposes administrative sanctions for illegal catches • Supervises transfers of quota shares and catch quotas • Controls data reporting on landed catches and monitors weighing • Provides supervision on board fishing vessels and in ports of landing • Cooperates with other institutions

8. The Marine Research Institute Real time area closures ■ A short-term, sudden closure system has been in force since 1976 with the objective of protecting juvenile fish. Fishing can be prohibited for two weeks in areas where the number of small fish caught has exceeded a certain percentage. ■ The Marine Research Institute is the competent authority to decide on these closures. ■ It can take only a few hours from the time the juvenile fish is caught until the area is closed for fishing, thanks to a very untraditional way of legislative implementation by official publication. ■ These inflictive decisions, equivalent to an official regulation, become legally binding by a simple radio announcement. ■ In 2007 there were 180 such area closures; 93 in 2008; 165 in 2009 and 114 in 2010.

9. The Marin Research Institute Estimation of discards ■ The Marine Research Institute has, in cooperation with the Directorate of Fisheries, conducted systematic discarding measurements in Icelandic fisheries since 2001, based on extensive data collection and length-based analysis of the data. ■ The data collection is mainly directed towards the fishing of cod, haddock, saithe, golden redfish and plaice. The results are published annually. ■ Discard estimates 2001 – 2009 are 0.6% – 1.8% for cod (average 1.1%) and 0.7% – 5.8% for haddock (average 3.2%).

10. Ports of Landing Weighing and registration of landed catch Issue that requires specific attention in the negotiations ■ All catch from all vessels, big and small, landed in Iceland is weighed by accredited port officials, who are legally responsible for the correct weighing. ■ Harbour fees are based on the weight of the fish landed, so the port authorities have, in addition to a legal responsibility, a direct financial interest in weighing all fish landed. ■ In the EU system, it is the master of the fishing vessel who is responsible for submitting a landing declaration and vessels of less than 10 meters are exempted.

11. Ports of Landing ■ Instead of having independently accredited officials responsible for the correct weighing, the responsibility in the EU system is with the masters of fishing vessels, buyers, auctioneers or other bodies or persons who are responsible for the first marketing of fisheries products, and whose integrity might thus be impaired. ■ The accuracy, reliability and transparency of catch registration is an essential part of the Icelandic system. ■ The Icelandic catch registration system is further explained in the next presentation.

12. Comparison of the Icelandic and the EU regulatory regimes on inspection and control ■ The Icelandic regime is well established and constantly developing through different acts and regulations ■ The recently adopted Community Control system is manifested in Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and marks a reform of the EU control system.

13. Comparison of the Icelandic and the EU regulatory regimes on inspection and control ■ Many Union control rules are compatible and could easily be implemented in the Icelandic regulatory regime. Most of the EU rules on control are already in place within the Icelandic system ■ Some important elements in the Icelandic control system could be lost if the Community control system is adopted as it is. ■ The feasibility of different rules inside and outside Iceland’s exclusive fishing zone requires specific attention in the negotiations

14. Comparison of the Icelandic and the EU regulatory regimes on inspection and control Important elements in the Icelandic control system ► The weighing and catch registration system ► The control system applies to all vessels, big and small ► Immediate revocation of fishing licences in case of overfishing or infringements ► No financial gain in overfishing ► Ban on discards ► Ban on salmonite fishing in the sea ► Transparency ► Real time area closures to protect juvenile fish ► Recalculations