37. For the purposes of these procedures, a serious violation means the following violations of the provisions of the Convention or conservation and management measures
adopted by the Commission
a. fishing without a license, permit or authorization issued by the flag Member, in accordance with Article 24 of the Convention;
b. failure to maintain sufficient records of catch and catch-related data in accordance with the Commission’s reporting requirements or significant misreporting of such catch and/or catch-related data;
c. fishing in a closed area;
d. fishing during a closed season;
e. intentional taking or retention of species in contravention of any applicable conservation and management measure adopted by the Commission;
f. significant violation of catch limits or quotas in force pursuant to the Convention;
g. using prohibited fishing gear;
h. falsifying or intentionally concealing the markings, identity or registration of a fishing vessel;
i. concealing, tampering with or disposing of evidence relating to investigation of a violation;
j. multiple violations which taken together constitute a serious disregard of measures in force pursuant to the Commission;
k. refusal to accept a boarding and inspection, other than as provided in paragraphs 26 and 27;
l. assault, resist, intimidate, sexually harass, interfere with, or unduly obstruct or delay an authorized inspector; and
m. intentionally tampering with or disabling the vessel monitoring system;
n. such other violations as may be determined by the Commission, once these are included and circulated in a revised version of these procedures.
PROCEDURES WHEN A SERIOUS VIOLATION IS OBSERVED
32. In the case of any boarding and inspection of a fishing vessel during which the authorized inspectors observe an activity or condition that would constitute a serious violation, as defined in paragraph 37, the authorities of the inspection vessels shall immediately notify the authorities of the fishing vessel, directly as well as through the Commission.
33. Upon receipt of a notification under paragraph 32, the authorities of the fishing vessels shall without delay:
a. assume their obligation to investigate and, if the evidence warrants, take enforcement action against the fishing vessel in question and so notify the authorities of the inspection vessel, as well as the Commission; or
b. authorize the authorities of the inspection vessel to complete investigation of the possible violation and so notify the Commission.
34. In the case of 33(a) above, the authorities of the inspection vessel shall provide, as soon as practicable, the specific evidence collected by the authorized inspectors to the
authorities of the fishing vessel.
35. In the case of 33(b) above, the authorities of the inspection vessel shall provide the
specific evidence collected by the authorized inspectors, along with the results of their
investigation, to the authorities of the fishing vessel immediately upon completion of the
investigation.
36. Upon receipt of a notification pursuant to paragraph 32, the authorities of the fishing vessel shall make best effort to respond without delay and in any case no later than within
3 (three) full working days.
CMM 2006-08 37
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