§ 300.28 - xxx

§ 300.28 FAD restrictions.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 87 FR 40741, July 8, 2022.

(a) FAD identification requirements for purse seine vessels.

(1) For each FAD deployed or modified on or after January 1, 2017, in the IATTC Convention Area, the vessel owner or operator must either: obtain a unique code from HMS Branch; or use an existing unique identifier associated with the FAD (e.g., the manufacturer identification code for the attached buoy).

(2) U.S. purse seine vessel owners and operators shall ensure the characters of the unique code or unique identifier be marked indelibly at least five centimeters in height on the upper portion of the attached radio or satellite buoy in a location that does not cover the solar cells used to power the equipment. For FADs without attached radio or satellite buoys, the characters shall be on the uppermost or emergent top portion of the FAD. The vessel owner or operator shall ensure the marking is visible at all times during daylight. In circumstances where the on-board observer is unable to view the code, the captain or crew shall assist the observer (e.g., by providing the FAD identification code to the observer).

(b) Activating FADs for purse seine vessels. When deploying a FAD in the IATTC Convention Area, a vessel owner, operator, or crew shall turn on the tracking equipment must activate the satellite buoy while the FAD is onboard the purse seine vessel and before it is deployed in the water.

(c) Restrictions on Active FADs for purse seine vessels. U.S. vessel owners and operators of purse-seine vessels with the following well volume in cubic meters (m³) must not have more than the following number of Active FADs per vessel in the IATTC Convention Area at any one time : during the following years.

Table 1 to Paragraph (c)

Well volume (m3)	Active FAD limit
For 2022 calendar year
1,200 or more	450	400
426-1,199	300	270
213-425	120	110
0-212	70	66
For 2023 calendar year
1,200 or more	340
426-1,199	255
213-425	105
0-212	64
For 2024 calendar year and beyond
1,200 or more	340
426-1,199	210
213-425	85
0-212	50

(d) Restrictions on satellite buoy deactivations. A vessel owner or operator that deactivates a satellite buoy attached to a FAD must comply with the reporting requirements for buoy deactivations in § 300.22(c)(3). A U.S. vessel owner or operator shall only deactivate a satellite buoy attached to a FAD that was activated in the IATTC Convention Area in the following circumstances:

(1) Complete loss of signal reception;

(2) Beaching;

(3) Appropriation of a FAD by a third party;

(4) Temporarily during a selected closure period;

(5) For being outside of the area between the meridians 150° W and 100° W, and the parallels 8° N and 10° S; the area between the meridian 100° W and the coast of the American continent and the parallels 5° N and 15° S; or

(6) Transfer of ownership.

(e) Restrictions on satellite buoy reactivations. A vessel owner or operator that reactivates a satellite buoy must comply with the reporting requirements for satellite buoy reactivations in § 300.22(c)(4). A U.S. vessel owner or operator shall only remotely reactivate a satellite buoy at sea that was activated in the IATTC Convention Area in the following circumstances:

(1) To assist in the recovery of a beached FAD;

(2) After a temporary deactivation during the closure period; or

(3) Transfer of ownership while the FAD is at sea.

(f) Restrictions on FAD deployments and removals.

(1) U.S. vessel owners, operators, and crew of purse seine vessels of class size 4-6 (more than 182 metric tons carrying capacity) must not deploy a FAD during a period of 15 days prior to the start of the selected closure period described in § 300.25(e)(1).

(2) During the 15 days prior to the start of the closure period selected by the vessel per § 300.25(e)(1), U.S. vessel owners, operators, and crew of purse seine vessels of class size 6 (greater than 363 metric tons carrying capacity) must remove from the water a number of FADs equal to the number of FADs set upon by the vessel during that same 15 day period.

(

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g) FAD design requirements to reduce entanglements. All FADs onboard or deployed in the IATTC Convention Area by U.S. vessel owners, operators, or crew, must comply with the following design requirements:

(1) Raft: If the FAD design includes a raft (e.g., flat raft or rolls of material) and if mesh netting is used as part of the structure, the mesh netting shall have a mesh size less than 7 centimeters and the mesh net must be tightly wrapped such that no netting hangs below the FAD when deployed; and,

(2) Subsurface: Any netting used in the subsurface structure of the FAD must be tightly tied into bundles (“sausages”), or have stretched mesh size less than 7 centimeters in a panel that is weighted on the lower end with at least enough weight to keep the netting taut in the water column.

[83 FR 15510, Apr. 11, 2018, as amended at 83 FR 62734, Dec. 6, 2018; 87 FR 40741, July 8, 2022]