Public Law 19-36

CBL 19-93 NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA SECOND REGULAR SESSION, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL BILL NO. 19-86, C.D.1 P.C. NO. 19-203 PUBLIC LAW NO. 19-36 AN ACT To further amend sections 503, 913 and 914 of title 24 of the Code of the Federated States of Micronesia (Annotated), as amended by Public Laws No. 18-108 and 19-21, to allow the disposal at sea of by-catch after recording the by-catch in a daily catch report form, to allow for alternate methods of the reporting and disposal of sharks, to clarify the standards for criminal and civil penalties and to allow for clarification of the penalty provision, and for other purposes.” BE IT ENACTED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA: Section 1. Section 503 of title 24 of the Code of the 1 Federated States of Micronesia (Annotated), as enacted by Public 2 Law No. 18-108, is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 “Section 503. Disposal of by-catch by fishing vessels. 4 (1) By-catch caught by a fishing vessel, either by 5 purse seine or longline vessels, may either be landed at 6 a transshipment port in the Federated States of 7 Micronesia in accordance with any regulation promulgated 8 pursuant to this act or recorded in the daily catch 9 report form for the vessel and discarded. If sharks are 10 caught alive they are to be released. 11 (2) It shall be unlawful for fishing vessels to 12 retain, discard or otherwise dispose of by-catch in 13 contravention of this section. 14 (3) Any person who commits an act in violation of 15 this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not 16 less than $100,000 and not more than $500,000. 17 CONGRESSIONAL BILL NO. 19-86, C.D.1 P.C. NO. 19-203 PUBLIC LAW NO. 19-36 2 of 5 (4) Any by-catch pursuant to this title may be 1 disposed of in such manner as prescribed by regulation.” 2 Section 2. Section 913 of title 24 of the Code of the 3 Federated States of Micronesia (Annotated), as amended by Public 4 Laws Nos. 18-108 and 19-21, is hereby further amended to read as 5 follows: 6 “Section 913. Possession, handling and sale of fish, 7 shark, or shark fin, unlawfully taken. 8 (1) No person shall knowingly and intentionally capture, 9 ship, transport, offer for sale, sell, purchase, import, 10 export or have custody, control or possession of any fish 11 taken or retained in contravention of this subtitle or any 12 access agreement, permit or applicable law except as 13 defined in this section. 14 (2) It shall be unlawful for fishing vessels to remove 15 shark fins from sharks on board fishing vessels, and to 16 retain on board, transship or land sharks or shark fins, 17 subject to subsections (4) and (6). 18 (3) It shall be unlawful for fishing vessels to possess 19 wire leaders, steel trace, or wire trace. 20 (4) All sharks caught by a fishing vessel shall be 21 either: (a) if still alive, immediately released back 22 into the ocean. Fishing vessels must ensure that sharks 23 are released whole, and that sharks are not 24 unnecessarily harmed during the release process; or (b) 25 CONGRESSIONAL BILL NO. 19-86, C.D.1 P.C. NO. 19-203 PUBLIC LAW NO. 19-36 3 of 5 if dead, may either be landed at a transshipment port in 1 the Federated States of Micronesia, recorded in the 2 daily catch report form for the vessel and discarded. 3 Fishing vessels must ensure that sharks are landed whole 4 with all shark fins attached to the carcass. Any sharks 5 caught as by-catch should be handled in the above 6 manner. 7 (5) It shall be unlawful to purchase, offer for sale 8 or sell sharks or shark parts, including shark fins 9 which have been removed on board a vessel, transshipped 10 or landed in contravention of this section. 11 (6) Any person who holds a license or permit from the 12 Authority to conduct scientific research on sharks and 13 carries out activities in accordance with that license 14 or permit shall not be held in contravention of this 15 section. 16 (7) Any person who intentionally and knowingly 17 commits an act in violation of this section shall be 18 subject to a civil penalty of not less than $50,000 and 19 not more than $250,000. 20 (8) It shall be a rebuttable presumption that any 21 sharks caught or shark fins possessed by a fishing 22 vessel fishing in the EEZ of the Federated States of 23 Micronesia, originated from the EEZ of the Federated 24 States of Micronesia. 25 CONGRESSIONAL BILL NO. 19-86, C.D.1 P.C. NO. 19-203 PUBLIC LAW NO. 19-36 4 of 5 (9) All shark or shark fins seized and forfeited 1 shall be destroyed by incineration.” 2 Section 3. Section 914 of title 24 of the Code of the 3 Federated States of Micronesia (Annotated), as amended by Public 4 Law No. 18-108, is hereby further amended to read as follows: 5 “Section 914. Destruction of evidence 6 (1) No person shall destroy, dispose of, conceal, 7 tamper with or abandon any fish, shark, shark fin, fish 8 product, fishing gear, net or other fish appliance, 9 record, document, electric shock device, explosive, 10 poison or other noxious substance, or any other thing 11 with intent to avoid seizure or the detection of an 12 offense against this subtitle, except for those actions 13 allowed in this subtitle. 14 (2) Any person who commits an act in violation of 15 this section is subject to a civil penalty of not less 16 than $100,000 and not more than $500,000.” 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 CONGRESSIONAL BILL NO. 19-86, C.D.1 P.C. NO. 19-203 PUBLIC LAW NO. 19-36 5 of 5 Section 4. This act shall become law upon approval by the 1 President of the Federated States of Micronesia or upon its becoming 2 law without such approval. 3 4 5 6 October 28 , 2015 7 8 9 10 /s/ Peter M. Christian 11 Peter M. Christian President 12 Federated States of Micronesia 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25