Regulations for Tuna Longline or Purse Seine Fishing Vessels Proceeding to the Pacific Ocean for Fishing Operation Article 58

For any tuna longline fishing vessel employing ice chilling method to preserve its shark catch, shark fins shall not be fully cut off and shall be naturally attached to carcasses (hereinafter referred to as “fins naturally attached”).For any tuna longline fishing vessel that employs freezing method to preserve its shark catch or tuna purse seine fishing vessel, shark fins shall be naturally attached or tied to carcasses. Fins and carcass that are tied together shall be of the same shark. Notwithstanding such a provision, before 1 January 2026, small scale longliners may alternatively attach identical numbered tags to a shark carcass and its corresponding fins and binding all the fins from the same carcass together or storing them in the same bag. Both the carcass and fins shall be stored in the same hold.Shark catch of any tuna longline or tuna purse seine fishing vessel shall be firstly processed in accordance with the preceding paragraph before storage in frozen fish hold(s), and shall remain the same processed status until landing.Numbers of the tag as referred to in the proviso clause of paragraph 2 shall include 5-digit CT Number and 6-digit catch number. The 6-digit catch number shall be sequentially numbered starting from Arabic numeral 1 without omission, and shall be clear, identifiable, and not prone to be worn. Tag numbers of different sharks shall not be the same.