1.

Only eligible vessels may obtain a licence to fish in Morocco’s fishing zones.

2.

For a vessel to be eligible, neither the owner, the captain nor the vessel itself must be prohibited from fishing in Morocco. They must be in order vis-à-vis the Moroccan authorities in so far as they must have fulfilled all prior obligations arising from their fishing activities in Morocco under fisheries agreements concluded with the EU.

3.

The relevant EU authorities shall submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Sea Fisheries – Sea Fisheries Department (‘the Department’) the lists of vessels applying to engage in fishing activities within the limits laid down in the datasheets annexed to the Protocol at least 20 days before the date of commencement of the validity of the licences requested.

4.

These lists shall indicate by category of fishing and by zone, the tonnage used, the number of vessels and, for each vessel, the main characteristics and the amount of payments broken down by heading. The ‘Longliners’ and ‘Small-scale’ categories shall also indicate, for each vessel, which gear is to be used during the period covered by the application.

5.

A sheet containing all the information required to issue fishing licences shall also be attached to the licence application in a format compatible with the software used by the Department.

6.

Individual applications shall be submitted to the Department on a form drawn up in accordance with the specimen in Appendix 1.

7.

All licence applications shall be accompanied by the following documents:

1.

The Department shall issue fishing licences to the Delegation of the EU to Morocco (‘the Delegation’) for all vessels within 15 days of receipt of all the documents referred to in point 6 above.

2.

Fishing licences shall be drawn up in accordance with the information in the datasheets annexed to the Protocol, and shall mention in particular the fishing zone, distance from the coast, the authorised gear, the main species, the authorised mesh sizes, allowable by-catches and the catch quota for pelagic trawlers.

3.

Fishing licences shall be issued only for vessels which have complied with all the administrative formalities required.

4.

The two parties shall seek agreement for the purposes of promoting the introduction of an electronic licence system.

1.

The periods of validity of licences shall be from 28 February 2011 to 27 February 2012.

2.

Fishing licences shall be valid only for the period covered by the fees paid and for the fishing zone, type of gear and fishing category specified in the licence in question.

3.

Fishing licences shall be issued for a given vessel and shall not be transferable. However, in the event of force majeure duly established by the competent authorities of the flag Member State and at the request of the EU, a licence issued for one vessel shall be replaced as soon as possible by a licence issued for another vessel of the same category on condition that the tonnage authorised for that category is not exceeded.

4.

The owner of the first vessel, or the agent, shall return the cancelled fishing licence to the Department, via the Delegation.

5.

Fishing licences must be held on board the eligible vessel at all times and presented to the inspection authorities on inspection.

6.

Fishing licences shall be valid for 1 year, 6 months or 3 months. For industrial pelagic fishing, however, monthly fishing licences may be granted and renewed.

1.

Annual fees for fishing licences shall be fixed by Moroccan legislation in force.

2.

Licence fees shall cover the calendar year in which the licence is issued and shall be payable when the first licence for that year is applied for. The amounts of such licence fees shall include all related fees and taxes, with the exception of port taxes and service charges.

3.

As well as the fishing licence fees, other fees shall be calculated for each vessel on the basis of the rate laid down in the datasheets annexed to the Protocol.

4.

The fees shall be calculated in proportion to the period for which the fishing licence is effectively valid.

5.

Any amendment to the legislation governing fishing licences shall be notified to the Delegation no later than 2 months before its entry into force.

1.

The fee shall be EUR 25 per tonne caught within Morocco’s fishing zones.

2.

Licences shall be issued for 1 calendar year following payment of an advance of EUR 5 000 per vessel.

3.

The advance shall be calculated in proportion to the duration for which the licence is valid.

4.

Captains of vessels holding licences for the fishing of highly migratory species shall keep an up-to-date logbook in line with the model in Appendix 6 of the Annex.

5.

They shall also forward a copy of that logbook to their competent authorities no later than 15 days before the end of the third month following the month to which it relates. These authorities shall forward the copies immediately to the Delegation, which shall send them to the Department before the end of the third month following the month to which they relate.

6.

By 30 April the Delegation shall submit to the Department a statement of fees due for the previous fishing year on the basis of the catch declarations made by each shipowner and confirmed by the scientific institutes responsible for verifying catch data in the Member States, such as the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), the IEO (Instituto Español de Oceanografía), the INIAP (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e das Pescas) and the INRH (Institut National de Recherche Halieutique).

7.

The statement of the fees due for the previous year shall be notified within 4 months of expiry of the Agreement.

8.

The final statement shall be sent to the shipowners concerned, who shall have 30 days, from the notification of approval of the figures by the Department, within which to discharge their financial obligations to the competent national authorities. Payment made out in euro in the name of the Treasurer-General of Morocco into the account mentioned in point 5 of Chapter I, shall be sent to the Department by the Delegation no later than 1 ½ months after that notification.

9.

However, if the amount of the final statement is less than the advance, the difference shall not be reimbursable.

10.

Shipowners shall take all the necessary steps to ensure that the copies of the logbook are sent and any additional payments made within the deadlines given in points 6 and 7.

11.

Failure by the shipowner to comply with the obligations provided for in points 6 and 7 shall entail automatic suspension of the fishing licence until such obligations have been met.

—

the technical characteristics of the vessel,

—

the level of expertise of the vessel’s officers as regards that fishery,

—

the proposal for the technical parameters of the trip (length, gear, exploration regions, etc.).

—

a declaration of the catches already on board,

—

the technical characteristics of the fishing gear to be used during the trip,

—

an assurance that they comply with Moroccan fisheries legislation.

—

send the Moroccan authorities and the European Commission a weekly report detailing the daily catches made and, for each haul, specifying the technical parameters of the trip (position, depth, date and time, catches and other observations or comments),

—

communicate the vessel’s position, speed and heading by VMS,

—

ensure that a Moroccan scientific observer or an observer chosen by the Moroccan authorities is on board. The role of the observer will be to gather scientific information from the catches, as well as to sample the catches. Observers shall be treated in the same way as a ship’s officer, and the shipowner shall cover their living costs during their stay on the vessel. The decision on the observer’s time on board, the length of their stay and the boarding and landing harbour will be fixed in agreement with the Moroccan authorities. Unless there is agreement between the parties to the contrary, the vessel will never be obliged to put into harbour more than once per 2 months,

—

submit their vessel to an inspection before it leaves Moroccan waters if the Moroccan authorities so request,

—

comply with Morocco’s fisheries legislation.

1.

All fishing vessels with an overall length exceeding 15 metres operating under this Agreement shall be tracked by satellite when fishing in Moroccan fishing zones.

2.

For the purposes of satellite monitoring, the Moroccan authorities shall communicate to the EU the coordinates (latitudes and longitudes) of the Moroccan fishing zones.

The Moroccan authorities shall transmit this information in electronic form, expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds.

3.

The Parties shall exchange information on X.25 addresses and the specifications for electronic data transmission between their Control Centres in accordance with points 5 and 7. Such information shall include the following, where they exist: names, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses (Internet or X.400) which may be used for general communications between Control Centres.

4.

The position of vessels shall be determined with a margin of error of less than 500 metres and a confidence interval of 99 %.

5.

When a vessel which is fishing under the Agreement and is the subject of satellite-tracking under EU legislation enters the Moroccan fishing zones, the subsequent position reports (vessel identification, longitude, latitude, course and speed) shall be transmitted immediately by the Control Centre of the flag state to Morocco’s Fisheries Monitoring and Control Centre (FMC) at intervals of no more than 2 hours. The messages concerned shall be identified as position reports.

6.

The messages specified in point 5 shall be transmitted electronically in X.25 format, or any other secure protocol. They shall be communicated in real time in the format set out in Table II.

7.

Where the continuous satellite-tracking equipment installed on board a fishing vessel develops a technical fault or breaks down, the captain of the vessel shall transmit the information specified in point 5 by fax to the Control Centre of the flag State and to Morocco’s FMC in good time. It will be necessary in those circumstances to send a global position report every 4 hours. This global position report shall include the position reports as recorded by the captain of the vessel on a 2-hourly basis in accordance with the requirements laid down in point 5.

The Control Centre of the flag State shall send these messages immediately to Morocco’s FMC. The faulty equipment shall be repaired or replaced within a period of not more than 1 month. Where this deadline is not met, the vessel in question must leave the Moroccan fishing zones or return to a Moroccan port.

8.

The Control Centres of the flag States shall monitor the movements of their vessels in Moroccan waters at hourly intervals. If the vessels are not being monitored in accordance with the conditions laid down, the Moroccan FMC shall be informed immediately and the procedure laid down in point 7 shall apply.

9.

If the Moroccan FMC establishes that the flag State is not transmitting the information specified in point 5, the competent European Commission departments shall be informed immediately.

10.

The surveillance data communicated to the other party in accordance with these provisions is intended solely for the Moroccan authorities for the purposes of controlling and monitoring the EU fleet fishing under the EU/Morocco Fisheries Agreement. Such data may not under any circumstances be communicated to other parties.

11.

The satellite-monitoring system software and hardware components shall be reliable and shall not permit the input or output of false positions or be capable of being manually overridden.

The system shall be fully automatic and operational at all times regardless of environmental and weather conditions. Destroying, damaging, rendering inoperative or tampering with the satellite-monitoring system shall be prohibited.

Captains shall ensure that:

12.

The Parties agree to exchange upon request information on the equipment used for satellite monitoring, in order to ensure that each piece of equipment is fully compatible with the requirements of the other Party for the purposes of these provisions. A first meeting to this end shall be organised before the entry into force of the Agreement.

13.

Any dispute over the interpretation or application of these provisions shall be the subject of consultation between the Parties within the Joint Committee provided for in Article 10 of the Agreement.

14.

The parties agree to amend, if necessary, these provisions within the Joint Committee provided for in Article 10 of the Agreement.

1.

Captains of vessels shall use the logbook specially designed for fishing in Morocco’s fishing zones and keep this logbook up-to-date in accordance with the provisions of the explanatory note for that logbook.

2.

Shipowners shall send a copy of the logbook to their competent authorities no later than 15 days before the end of the third month following the month to which it relates. These authorities shall forward the copies immediately to the Delegation, which shall send them to the Department before the end of the third month following the month to which they relate.

3.

Failure by shipowners to comply with the obligations provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall entail automatic suspension of the fishing licence until such obligations have been met.

1.

By the end of the third month of each quarter the Delegation shall notify the Department of the quantities caught by all EU vessels in the previous quarter.

2.

This information should be broken down by month, by type of fishing, by vessel and by species specified in the logbook.

3.

This data shall also be sent to the Department in a computer file in a format compatible with software used by the Ministry.

1.

Shipowners with fishing licences under this Agreement shall take on board, for the entire period of their presence in Moroccan waters, Moroccan seamen as follows:

2.

Shipowners shall be free to select the seamen they take on board their vessels.

3.

The fishermen’s employment contracts shall be drawn up between the shipowners or their representatives and the fishermen.

4.

The shipowner or agent shall inform the Department of the names of the Moroccan seamen taken on board the vessel concerned, mentioning their position in the crew.

5.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work shall apply as of right to seamen signed on by European vessels. This concerns in particular the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

6.

Moroccan seamen’s employment contracts, a copy of which shall be given to the signatories, shall be drawn up between the shipowners’ agent(s) and the seamen and/or their trade unions or representatives in consultation with the competent Moroccan authorities. These contracts shall guarantee the seamen the social security cover applicable to them, including life assurance and sickness and accident insurance.

7.

Shipowners or their agents shall send, within 2 months of the issue of the licence, a copy of that contract duly signed by the competent authorities of the Member State concerned direct to the Department.

8.

Moroccan seamen’s wages shall be paid by the shipowners. They shall be fixed, before licences are issued, by mutual agreement between the shipowners or their agents and the Moroccan seamen concerned or their representatives. However, the wage conditions granted to Moroccan seamen shall not be lower than those applied to Moroccan crews and shall comply with ILO standards and under no circumstances be below those standards.

9.

If one or more seamen employed on board fail to report at the time agreed for the vessel’s departure, the vessel shall be permitted to start the planned trip after informing the competent authorities in the port of embarkation of the shortfall in the number of seamen required and having updated its crew list. These authorities shall inform the Department thereof.

The shipowner shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the number of seamen required by this Agreement are signed on by the vessel by the next trip at the latest.

10.

Where no Moroccan seamen are taken on board for reasons other than that specified in the previous point, owners of EU vessels shall be obliged to pay as soon as possible a flat-rate amount of EUR 20 per day of fishing in the Moroccan fishing zone per seaman within a maximum of 3 months.

This sum shall be used for training Moroccan fishermen and shall be paid into the account specified in point 5 of Chapter I.

11.

On 1 July 2011 and 1 January 2012, the Delegation shall send the Department a list of Moroccan seamen taken on board EU vessels, with details of their registration as crew members and the vessels concerned.

12.

Except as provided for in point 9, repeated failure by shipowners to comply with the embarkation of the requisite number of Moroccan seamen shall result in automatic suspension of the vessels’ fishing licence until such obligations have been met.

1.

Vessels authorised to fish in Moroccan fishing zones under the Agreement shall take on board observers appointed by Morocco on the terms set out below.

2.

Observers shall be on board pelagic trawlers on a permanent basis. For the other categories of fishing, observers shall spend one voyage per vessel on board.

3.

The conditions under which observers are taken on board shall be agreed between shipowners or their agents and the Moroccan authorities.

4.

Observers shall be taken on board at a port chosen by the shipowner at the beginning of the first voyage in Moroccan waters after notification of the list of designated ships.

5.

Within 2 weeks and giving 10 days’ notice, the shipowners concerned shall make known at which Moroccan ports and on what dates they intend to take observers on board.

6.

Where observers are taken on board in a foreign country, their travel costs shall be borne by the shipowner. Should a vessel with a Moroccan observer on board leave the Moroccan fishing zones, all measures must be taken to ensure the observer’s return to Morocco as soon as possible at the expense of the shipowner.

7.

In the event of wasted journeys by scientific observers, due to failure by shipowners to comply with their commitments, shipowners shall pay their travel expenses, and daily allowances, equal to those received by Moroccan national officials of an equivalent grade, for the days of inactivity by the observers. Similarly, in the event of a delay in embarkation which is due to the shipowner, the shipowner shall pay the scientific observer the daily allowances described above.

Any amendment to the rules and regulations concerning daily allowances shall be notified to the Delegation no later than 2 months before its entry into force.

8.

If the observer is not present at the time and place agreed and during the 12 hours following the time agreed, the shipowner shall be automatically absolved of his obligation to take the observer on board.

9.

Observers shall be treated as officers. They shall carry out the following tasks:

10.

Captains shall do everything in their power to ensure the physical safety and welfare of observers during performance of their duties.

11.

Observers shall be offered every facility needed to carry out their duties. Captains shall facilitate their access to the means of communication needed for the discharge of their duties, to documents directly concerned with the vessel’s fishing activities, in particular the logbook and the navigation log, and to those parts of the vessel necessary to facilitate the exercise of their tasks as observer.

12.

While on board, observers shall:

13.

At the end of the observation period and before leaving the vessel, observers shall draw up an activity report to be transmitted to the competent authorities in Morocco, with a copy to the Delegation. They shall sign it in the presence of the captain, who may add or cause to be added to it any observations considered relevant, followed by the captain’s signature. A copy of the report shall be given to the captain when the observer is put ashore.

14.

Shipowners shall bear the cost of accommodating observers in the same conditions as the officers on the vessel, within the confines of the structure of the vessel.

15.

The salary and social contributions of the observer shall be borne by the competent Moroccan authorities.

16.

In order to reimburse Morocco for the costs arising from the presence of observers on board vessels, in addition to the fee payable by shipowners, ‘costs of scientific observers’ shall be payable at a rate of EUR 3,5 per GT per quarter per vessel fishing in Moroccan fishing zones.

These costs shall be paid at the same time as the quarterly payments in accordance with point 5 of Chapter I of the Annex.

17.

Failure by the shipowner to comply with the obligations laid down in point 4 shall result in automatic suspension of the fishing licence until such obligations have been met.

2.1.

Once a year and after any alteration in tonnage or changes to the fishing category necessitating the use of a different type of gear, EU vessels covered by point 1 above shall report to the Moroccan port to undergo the inspections required by the legislation in force. Such inspections shall take place within 48 hours of the vessel’s arriving in port.

2.2.

Once the inspection has been completed satisfactorily, the captain of the vessel shall be issued with a certificate having the same period of validity as the licence and which shall be automatically extended in the case of vessels renewing their licence within the year. However, the maximum validity may not exceed 1 year. This certificate must be kept on board at all times.

2.3.

The technical inspection shall verify that the vessel’s technical characteristics and gear conform to the provisions of the Agreement and that the provisions relating to its Moroccan crew have been complied with.

2.4.

The cost of the inspection shall be borne by the shipowner at the rates laid down by Moroccan law. It may not be greater than the amount normally paid by other vessels for the same services.

2.5.

Failure by the shipowner to comply with points 2.1 and 2.2 above shall result in automatic suspension of the fishing licence until such obligations have been met.

3.1.

EU vessels shall notify the Department at least 4 hours in advance of their intention to enter or leave the Moroccan fishing zones.

3.2.

When notifying leaving, vessels shall also communicate their position and the volume and species in catches on board. This information should preferably be communicated by fax or, for vessels not equipped with a fax, by radio, the details of which are set out in Appendix 8.

3.3.

A vessel found to be fishing without having informed the Department shall be regarded as a vessel without a licence.

3.4.

Vessels shall also be informed of the fax and telephone numbers and e-mail address when the fishing licence is issued.

4.1.

Captains of European fishing vessels engaged in fishing activities in Moroccan waters shall allow and facilitate boarding and the discharge of their duties by any Moroccan officials responsible for the inspection and control of fishing activities.

4.2.

These officials shall not remain on board for longer than is necessary for the discharge of their duties.

4.3.

Once the inspection and control has been completed, a certificate shall be issued to the captain of the vessel.

5.1.

The Department shall inform the European Commission, within no more than 48 hours, of all boardings of and penalties imposed on European vessels in Moroccan waters.

5.2.

The European Commission shall at the same time receive a brief report of the circumstances and reasons leading to the boarding.

6.1.

After the Moroccan authorities responsible for inspection have drawn up a statement, the captain of the vessel shall sign it.

6.2.

This signature shall not prejudice the rights of the captain or any defence which he or she may make to the alleged infringement.

6.3.

The captain shall take the vessel to the port indicated by the Moroccan authorities responsible for inspection. The vessel in breach of the Moroccan sea fishing legislation in force shall be kept in port until completion of the usual administrative formalities relating to boarding.

7.1.

Before any judicial procedure, an attempt shall be made to resolve the presumed infringement by means of an amicable settlement. This procedure shall end no later than 3 working days after the boarding.

7.2.

In the event of an amicable settlement, the amount of the fine shall be determined in accordance with Moroccan fisheries legislation.

7.3.

If the case cannot be settled by amicable procedure and has to be brought before a competent judicial body, a bank security set to take account of the boarding costs and the fines and compensation payable by the parties responsible for the infringement shall be paid by the shipowner into a bank account specified by the competent Moroccan authorities.

7.4.

The bank security shall be irrevocable until the legal proceedings have been concluded. It shall be released once legal proceedings end without a conviction. Similarly, in the event of a conviction leading to a fine of less than the security lodged, the balance shall be released by the competent Moroccan authorities.

7.5.

The vessel shall be authorised to leave the port:

8.1.

Any transhipment at sea of catches shall be prohibited in the Moroccan fishing zones. However, European pelagic trawlers wishing to tranship catches in Moroccan waters shall do so in a Moroccan port or other place designated by the competent Moroccan authorities, after authorisation by the Department. Such transhipment shall take place under the supervision of the observer or of a representative of the sea fisheries delegation and the control authorities. Any person infringing this provision shall be liable to the penalties provided for by Moroccan law.

8.2.

Before any transhipment, the owners of these vessels must notify the following information to the Department at least 24 hours in advance:

Morocco reserves the right to refuse transhipment if the carrier vessel has carried out illegal, undeclared or unregulated fishing inside or outside the maritime areas under Moroccan jurisdiction.

8.3.

Transhipment shall be considered as an exit from the Moroccan fishing zones. Vessels must therefore submit their catch declarations to the Department and state whether they intend to continue fishing or leave the Moroccan fishing zones.

Captains of European pelagic trawlers engaged in landing or transhipment operations in a Moroccan port shall allow and facilitate the inspection of such operations by Moroccan inspectors. Once the inspection and control have been completed in the port, a certificate shall be issued to the captain of the vessel.