§ 300.109 - Initiating a new fishery.

§ 300.109 Gear disposalInitiating a new fishery.

(a) The operator of a harvesting vessel may not dump overboard, jettison or otherwise discard any article or substance that may interfere with other fishing vessels or gear, or that may catch fish or cause damage to any marine resource, including marine mammals and birds, except in cases of emergency involving the safety of the ship or crew, or as specifically authorized by communication from the appropriate USCG commander or authorized officer. These articles and substances include, but are not limited to, fishing gear, net scraps, bale straps, plastic bags, oil drums, petroleum containers, oil, toxic chemicals or any manmade items retrieved in a harvesting vessel's gear.

(b) The operator of a harvesting vessel may not abandon fishing gear in Convention waters.

(c) The operator of a harvesting vessel must provide a copy of the CCAMLR information brochure “Marine Debris - A Potential Threat to Antarctic Marine Mammals” to each member of the crew of the harvesting vessel and must display copies of the CCAMLR placard “Avoidance of Incidental Mortality of Antarctic Marine Mammals” in the wheelhouse and crew quarters of the harvesting vessels. Copies of the brochure and placard will be provided to each holder of a harvesting permit by NMFS when issuing the permit

A new fishery, for purposes of this section, is a fishery that uses bottom trawls on the high seas of the Convention Area or a fishery for a species, using a particular method, in a statistical subarea or division for which:

(1) Information on distribution, abundance, demography, potential yield and stock identity from comprehensive research/surveys or exploratory fishing has not been submitted to CCAMLR;

(2) Catch and effort data have never been submitted to CCAMLR; or

(3) Catch and effort data from the two most recent seasons in which fishing occurred have not been submitted to CCAMLR.

(b) Persons intending to develop a new fishery shall notify the Assistant Administrator no later than April 1 for the fishing season that will commence on or after December 1 and shall not initiate the fishery pending NMFS and CCAMLR review or until a vessel permit has been used under this subpart.

(c) The notification shall be accompanied by a complete vessel permit application required under § 300.107 and information on:

(1) The nature of the proposed fishery, including target species, methods of fishing, proposed region and maximum catch levels proposed for the forthcoming season;

(2) Biological information on the target species from comprehensive research/survey cruises, such as distribution, abundance, demographic data and information on stock identity;

(3) Details of dependent and related species and the likelihood of them being affected by the proposed fishery;

(4) Information from other fisheries in the region or similar fisheries elsewhere that may assist in the evaluation of potential yield; and

(5) If the proposed fishery will be undertaken using bottom trawl gear, the known and anticipated impacts of this gear on vulnerable marine ecosystems, including benthos and benthic communities.