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1. A Union ◄ fishing vessel shall have the equipment on board to retrieve lost gear.

2. The master of a Union ◄ fishing vessel that has lost gear or part of it shall attempt to retrieve it as soon as possible.

3. If the lost gear cannot be retrieved, the master of the vessel shall inform the competent authority of its flag Member State, which shall then inform the competent authority of the coastal Member State, within 24 hours of the following:

(a) the external identification number and the name of the fishing vessel;

(b) the type of lost gear;

(c) the time when the gear was lost;

(d) the position where the gear was lost;

(e) the measures undertaken to retrieve the gear.

4. If the gear that is retrieved by the competent authorities of the Member States has not been reported as lost, these authorities may recover the cost from the master of the fishing vessel that lost the gear.

5. A Member State may exempt Union ◄ fishing vessels of less than 12 metres’ length overall flying its flag from the requirement set out in paragraph 1 if they:

(a) operate exclusively within the territorial seas of the flag Member State; or (b) never spend more than 24 hours at sea from the time of departure to the return to port.