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1. Exploratory bottom fishing activities shall be subject to a prior assessment by the NEAFC Permanent Committee on Management and Science (PECMAS) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

2. Member States whose vessels wish to engage in exploratory bottom fishing shall gather the data necessary for a prior assessment by PECMAS and ICES and submit by electronic means to the Commission the following information for the purpose of evaluating requests for exploratory fishing:

(a) a harvesting plan, which outlines the target species, proposed dates and areas and the type of bottom fishing gear to be used; area and effort restrictions shall be considered to ensure that fishing occurs on a gradual basis in a limited geographical area;

(b) a mitigation plan, including measures to prevent significant adverse impact to VMEs that may be encountered during fishing activities;

(c) a catch monitoring plan, including recording and reporting of all species caught;

(d) a system for catch recording and reporting allowing for a sufficiently detailed assessment of activity;

(e) a fine-scale data collection plan on the distribution of intended tows and sets, to the extent practicable on a tow-by-tow and set-by-set basis;

(f) a data collection plan to facilitate the identification of VMEs in the area where the fishing activities took place;

(g) plans for the monitoring of bottom fishing, using gear monitoring technology, including cameras, if practicable;

(h) data from seabed mapping programmes, echosounders and, if practicable, multibeam sounders, and other data relevant to the preliminary assessment of the risk of significant adverse impacts on VMEs; and (i) a preliminary assessment of the known and anticipated impacts of the proposed bottom fishing addressing, inter alia:

(i) a harvesting plan including the type of fishing conducted or contemplated, including vessel and gear types, fishing areas, target and potential by-catch species, fishing effort levels and duration of fishing;

(ii) best available scientific and technical information on the current state of fishery resources and baseline information on the ecosystems, habitats and communities in the fishing area, against which future changes are to be compared;

(iii) identification, description and mapping (geographical location and extent) of VMEs known or likely to occur in the fishing area;

(iv) identification, description and evaluation of the occurrence, character, scale and duration of likely impacts, including cumulative impacts of the proposed fishery on VMEs in the fishing area;

(v) data and methods used to identify, describe and assess the impacts of the activity, the identification of gaps in knowledge and an evaluation of uncertainties in the information presented in the assessment;

(vi) risk assessment of likely impacts caused by fishing operations to determine which impacts on VMEs are likely to have or imply significant adverse impacts; and (vii) information contained in the mitigation plan concerning mitigation and management measures to be used to prevent significant adverse impacts on VMEs and the measures to be used to monitor the effects of fishing operations.

3. The flag Member State shall:

(a) send the request for prior assessment of exploratory bottom fishing activities and the accompanying information to the Commission at least seven months prior to the proposed start of the fishing;

(b) ensure that its fishing vessels participating in exploratory bottom fishing have a scientific observer on board, who shall:

(i) monitor any set for evidence of presence of VMEs and identify coral, sponges and other organisms to the lowest taxonomical level possible;

(ii) record on data sheets the following information for identification of VMEs: vessel name, gear type, date, position (latitude/longitude), depth, species code, trip number, set number and that observer’s name; and (iii) collect, if required, representative samples from the entire catch and provide the samples to the relevant scientific body of the flag Member State;

(c) authorise the start of the exploratory bottom fishing only after the activities have been approved by NEAFC; and (d) provide a report of the results, including relevant scientific data, of the exploratory bottom fishing activities to ICES and the Commission, which shall forward it to the NEAFC Secretariat.

4. The Commission shall forward the request and the accompanying information to the NEAFC Secretariat without delay.

5. Masters of Union fishing vessels shall:

(a) commence the exploratory bottom fishing only after the activity has been approved by NEAFC and authorised by the flag Member State; and (b) have a scientific observer on board during the exploratory bottom fishing activities.