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1. Masters of Union fishing vessels are prohibited from deliberately abandoning or discarding fishing gear and from discharging waste from ships as defined in Directive (EU) 2019/883 of the European Parliament and of the Council into the sea, in accordance with MARPOL Annex V on Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships.

2. Any deliberate abandonment or discarding of fishing gear, and any discharge of waste from ships as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the responsibility of the master.

3. Union fishing vessels shall notify the competent authorities of their flag Member State within 24 hours about the required information referred to in Article 14(7) and Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 in those cases where the lost gear cannot be retrieved:

(a) the call sign of the vessel;

(b) the quantity of lost gear; and (c) if the vessel has tried to retrieve the gear or not.

4. The Member State shall without delay notify the information referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 48 of Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 to the Commission, which shall transmit it to the NEAFC Secretariat.

5. Member States shall undertake to retrieve on a regular basis lost fixed gear belonging to vessels flying their flag. If gear is retrieved that has not been reported as lost, the Member State or other Contracting Party that retrieved the gear may recover the cost from the master of the vessel that has lost the gear.