DRAFT IUU VESSEL LIST FOR Circulated to CCMs by July , in accordance with paragraph 6 of CMM

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1 DRAFT IUU VESSEL LIST FOR 2016 Circulated to CCMs by July , in accordance with paragraph 6 of CMM SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ATTACHMENT 3: Case 2015_C: Letter of reply from Deputy Director, Division of Deep Sea Fishing, Bureau of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, China to Tonga, received by WCPFC on 14 July

2 中华人民共和国农业部渔业局 BUREAU OF FISHERIES, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, THE PEOPLE S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 地址 : 北京农展馆南里 11 号, 邮政编码 : Address: No.11 Nongzhanguannanli, Beijing, 电话 (TEL): / , 传真 (FAX): , bofdwf@agri.gov.cn Mrs. Losaline Ma asi Chief Executive Officer Ministry of Agriculture Food Forestry and Fisheries KINGDOM OF TONGA 10th July 2015 SUBJECT: Re: Investigation on Illegal Fishing in Tonga by the Fishing Vessel Rong Da Yang No.28 Dear Mrs. Losaline Ma asi I am writing in reference of your letter of 17 th June 2015 regarding the alleged illegal fishing in Tonga by Rong Da Yang 28. We initiated a detailed investigation immediately once we received the notification. I would like to communicate the result of the investigation including the facts we found. 1. Incident Description The investigation shows that the vessel Rong Da Yang 28 departed from Suva, Fiji for High Seas for fishing on 15 th Oct At 7:00 a.m. of 18 th Oct.2014, while the vessel was transiting in the north EEZ of Tonga, the crew on duty found that lots of main lines discarded by other vessels were entangled with the propeller. For the vessel safety, the captain ordered the crew to lift those discarded lines for cutting after the vessel left the EEZ. At that time, four (4) of those discarded lines were lifted from the sea, as appeared in the picture attached to the notification. The reason why those lines could not be cut off immediately during the transit is that, as there were many main lines entangled with the propeller, the main engine might run the risk of not being restarted if the vessel stopped in the EEZ dealing with those lines. If the vessel stops in the EEZ to deal those lines, the lines will sink deeper which will cause more serious damage to the rudder and propeller. Furthermore, if the propeller stops and restarts later, more discarded lines will be inhaled, and this will cause much more serious damage, and even the main engine cannot be restarted causing loss of power of the vessel. 1 32

3 As a normal practice dealing such accident, all the discarded lines need to be lifted before cutting off all. As this process does need time and for the safety of the vessel, the captain decided to continue transiting before handling this matter on the high seas. Therefore, the lines appeared in the picture of the notification were the lines discarded by other vessels instead of part of fishing gear for Rong Da Yang No.28, this is also why the lines shown on the picture were tight and straight. If it was set by the line shooter, it should be naturally vertical and loose. 2. Major Supporting Information on not fishing within Tonga s EEZ a. As it is indicated in the attachment of the notification, the average speed of the vessel from 15 th to 18 th October 2014 was 8.3 knot and such speed is the normal speed for sailing/navigation for Rong Da Yang NO.28 whose rated power is 698kW. We understand that the speed for such type of vessel must be 6-7 knot for longline gear setting. Please see the VMS report in the attachment 1 we downloaded from our VMS system for speed details of the vessel; b. The attachment of the notification indicates that the vessel track is straight rather than a z-shaped route, which may normally indicate that a vessel is fishing (see attachment 2); c. The picture taken by the aircraft shows that the fishing gear including floating balls was placed in order. 10 baskets used to collect branch lines and hooks as well as the 4 electric buoys were placed on the upper afterdeck of the vessel. There was no crew at the foredeck handling fishing gears. There was no fish bait around the bait board and this shall be considered that all the fish bait were properly stored and was not in a readily-available status. In addition, the picture taken by the aircraft showed that there were no floating balls on the sea. These phenomena indicate that the vessel was neither in the status of fishing, nor preparing for fishing; d. The position the crew stood and their behavior were different from those they usually do while fishing. And the picture shows that the crew didn t wear life jacket and it is contrary with the usual practice for a longline vessel while fishing; e. At present, a longline vessel cannot set 3-4 mainlines at the same time; and f. The transit event was appropriately recorded into the China Longline Fisheries Logbook (attachment 3) and FFA logsheet (attachment 4). 3. Conclusion 2 33

4 The vessel Rong Da Yang No.28 was transiting through EEZ of Tongga when it was detected by the P3 Orion aircraft. The lines that appear in the pictures are those discarded by other vessels. The vessel was not fishing while transiting in the EEZ. I wish to reaffirm that China will spare no effort on combating IUU fishing, and we are willing to cooperate with Tonga and other Members of the Commission in this regard for sustainable fisheries in the region. And I do hope the above information may explain the situation. Please don t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. Yours Sincerely, Wan Chen Deputy Director Division of Deep Sea Fishing Bureau of Fisheries Ministry of Agriculture, China CC: HE Ambassador of the People s Republic of China Vilimo Fakalolo, Head of Fisheries Executive Director, Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission 3 34

5 Attachment 1 vms report TIME LATITUDE LONGITUTD SPEED DIRECTION TYPE 10/24/2014 2: ã21'52"w 13 ã27'2"s INMARSET C 10/23/ : ã49'50"w 12 ã44'26"s INMARSET C 10/23/2014 2: ã46'19"w 12 ã42'12"s INMARSET C 10/22/ : ã24'24"w 13 ã14'14"s INMARSET C 10/22/2014 2: ã12'4"w 13 ã37'12"s 9 79 INMARSET C 10/21/ : ã0'12"w 13 ã59'43"s INMARSET C 10/21/2014 2: ã42'7"w 14 ã21'21"s INMARSET C 10/20/ : ã23'31"w 14 ã42'55"s INMARSET C 10/20/2014 2: ã1'4"w 15 ã3'36"s INMARSET C 10/19/ : ã34'48"w 15 ã23'24"s INMARSET C 10/19/2014 2: ã12'16"w 15 ã44'0"s 9 80 INMARSET C 10/18/ : ã53'24"w 16 ã5'21"s INMARSET C 10/18/2014 2: ã29'28"w 16 ã25'33"s INMARSET C 10/17/ : ã5'36"w 16 ã45'50"s INMARSET C 10/17/2014 2: ã39'0"w 17 ã5'48"s INMARSET C 10/16/ : ã58'19"w 17 ã30'48"s INMARSET C 10/16/2014 2: ã19'33"w 18 ã16'28"s INMARSET C 10/15/ : ã3'45"e 18 ã15'28"s INMARSET C 10/15/ : ã57'43"e 18 ã15'26"s INMARSET C 10/14/ : ã25'36"e 18 ã7'35"s INMARSET C 10/14/2014 8: ã25'36"e 18 ã7'35"s INMARSET C 35

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