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1. In respect of purse seine and baitboat catching vessels fishing for tropical tunas in association with fish-aggregating devices (FADs), Member States shall, by 31 December of each year, submit to the Commission management plans for the use of such FADs by vessels flying their flag. The Commission shall forward that information to the ICCAT Secretariat by 31 January of the following year.

2. The objective of the management plans referred to in paragraph 1 shall be to:

(a) improve the knowledge about FAD characteristics, buoy characteristics, FAD fishing, including fishing effort, and related impacts on targeted and non-targeted species;

(b) effectively manage the deployment and recovery of FADs and beacons and their potential loss;

(c) reduce and limit the impacts of FADs and FAD fishing on the ecosystem, including, where appropriate, by acting on the different components of the fishing mortality (e.g. number of deployed FADs, including number of FAD sets by purse seiners, fishing capacity, number of support vessels).

3. The management plans referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain the information set out in Annex II.

4. Member States shall ensure that no more than 300 FADs per vessel with operational buoys are active at the same time.

5. The number of FADs with operational buoys shall be verified through the verification of telecommunication bills. Such verifications shall be conducted by the competent authorities of the Member State.

6. Member States may authorise purse seiners flying their flag to set on FOBs, provided that the fishing vessel has either an observer or a functioning electronic monitoring system on board which is capable of verifying the set type and species composition and which provides information on fishing activities to the ICCAT Standing Committee on Research and Statistics.