Legislative Decree No. 2/2020 approving the general regime regulating fishing activities in national maritime waters and in the high seas

The application for an authorization to fish on the high seas shall be rejected whenever there is proof or strong evidence that the fishing vessel or its owner is involved in activities that violate the conservation and management measures applicable to fishing on the high seas.

1. In national maritime waters and on the high seas it is prohibited to hold, transport, keep on board or fish with firearms, explosive, poisonous or toxic substances, electric current or by other means likely to cause the death or stunning of specimens, or to throw overboard objects or substances likely to affect the marine environment.

1. The following are very serious offenses: a) Fishing in national maritime waters by national or foreign vessels without a fishing licence, which includes fishing by a fishing vessel that has not obtained a fishing licence from the competent national authorities, fishing on the basis of a fishing licence that has expired, or fishing with a fishing licence that has been suspended or revoked; b) Catching fishery resources in excess of the limits set in the fishing license or catching marine species not authorized in the fishing license; c) Keeping on board, transhipping, landing, transporting,storing, exporting or selling fish, crustaceans and molluscs for which fishing has been prohibited; d) Fishing for corals; e) Fishing for algae or any plant species without a licence; f) Falsifying, deleting or concealing the fishing vessel's identification marks; g) Fishing with falsified documents or documents whose contents have been falsified; h) The absence on board the fishing vessel of the fishing log or other compulsory records, as well as updated plans and descriptions of the holds or when these records are intentionally not filled in correctly or not made available for verification by the inspection agents; i) Fishing without the proper VMS equipment, or when such equipment is non-operational or switched off; j) Carrying out transhipment operations without authorization from the competent national authorities; k) The absence of authorization from the competent authorities for other related fishing operations; l) The use or keeping on board the fishing vessel of fishing gear that is prohibited or not permitted in the fishing license; m) Fishing in reserved maritime areas; n) Fishing by a foreign fishing vessel in areas reserved for national fishing vessels; o) Failure to comply with the obligation to transmit CME data or changes thereto concerning the identification of the fishing vessel, its most recent geographical position, with a margin of error of less than five hundred meters and a confidence interval of 99%, the date and time expressed in universal time, and its speed and course; p) Violation of data transmission conditions and frequencies, which must not exceed 12 hours apart; q) Obstructing the work of observers and fisheries inspection agents in the performance of their duties or using violence against their physical integrity; r) Fishing by national fishing vessels in maritime areas under the jurisdiction of third states, without a fishing license, or on the high seas without the appropriate authorization; s) The commercialization for consumption of bait caught by fishing vessels licensed or not for this purpose. t) The use of firearms, explosive, poisonous or toxicsubstances, instruments or means of electric discharges or light sources as fishing gear, the keeping on board fishing vessels or their transport, as well as the practice of fishing called "Crosse"; u) The throwing overboard of any objects or substanceslikely to significantly and adversely harm the marine environment; v) The capture, commercialization, purchase or sale of prohibited species, in closed season or below the minimum sizes permitted by law, by natural or legal persons, including restaurants, supermarkets, hotels or other similar establishments; x) Bribery or attempted bribery of fisheries inspectors.

When negotiating the agreements or contracts for access to fishing in national maritime waters referred to in the previous article, account must be taken of the need to comply with the rules and principles of international law on the protection of marine ecosystems and the conservation of fishery resources, the provisions of this decree-law and of a separate decree-law, as well as other applicable provisions of the law, and must include in particular: c): The obligation to embark a minimum number of national sailors as a condition of the fisheries agreement d) The obligation to take on board a minimum number of national seamen;

1. The fishing licence granted for semi-industrial and industrial fishing may require the presence on board the fishing vessel of on-board observers appointed by the competent authority.
2. The conditions under which the observer referred to in the previous paragraph may stay on board shall be defined in a separate statute.

1. Any transhipment operation at sea in national maritime waters is prohibited and may only be authorized at points, in ports or in bays, duly designated by the competent authority.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous paragraph, the transhipment operations can only be authorized in relation to fish or fishing products originating from national maritime waters, of maritime areas under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), involving vessels registered in that organization, of the maritime areas under the jurisdiction of the member countries of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CSRP) or other maritime areas with proof that the fish or fish products did not result from IUU fishing.

The Shipowner is liable, without prejudice to the right of recourse that the shipowner, under the terms of the law, may eventually have against the captain of the fishing vessel for acts or omissions attributable to the latter.

1. The granting, suspension or revocation of fishing licenses for foreign industrial fishing vessels, as well as the granting, suspension or revocation of authorizations for fishing on the high seas, shall be the responsibility of the member of the Government responsible for the Fisheries sector and shall be exercised under the terms of this statute and under the terms of the applicable legislation.
2. The granting, suspension or revocation of fishing licenses or authorizations not included in the previous paragraph are the responsibility of the Director General of Marine Resources.

1. Fishing licenses for artisanal, semi-industrial and industrial fishing may only be suspended or revoked by decision of the competent authority under the terms of this statute, under the following conditions: a) For reasons of management and conservation of fishery resources, on the basis of a scientific opinion from the competent national or international institutions, after hearing the Fisheries Council, or as a result of a recommendation from the international and regional organizations of which Cape Verde is a member; b) As an accessory penalty imposed for an administrative offense committed under the terms of this statute; or c) For non-use of the fishing license for a period of more than two months, in the absence of weighty reasons beyond the shipowner's control.
2. In the event of the revocation or suspension of the fishing license on the basis of point a) of the previous paragraph, the respective holder shall be entitled to a proportional refund of the part of the fishing license fee paid in return for the period during which the fishing license was not used.
3. The beneficiary of a fishing license that has been revoked or suspended under the terms of paragraph 1(a) shall have priority in obtaining a fishing license to catch the same species or species authorized in the revoked or suspended fishing license when the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1(a) cease to exist.

1. Any national or foreign fishing vessel with a licence to fish in national maritime waters must be registered in the national fishing vessel register, under the terms of the applicable special legislation.
2. The competent authority must systematically check the history of the fishing vessel and the activities of its owner prior to any entry in the register.

The competent authority shall ensure the widest possible dissemination, including through its website, of the identification of fishing vessels registered in the national fishing vessel register, operating in national maritime waters or on the high seas, indicating the date of their registration, the identification of their owner, charterer or operator, as well as the type of fishing they practise and the base port to which they have been assigned.

2. As part of the general obligations of the beneficiary of the fishing license, the captain of the fishing vessel must: a) Keep the original license document on board at all times and present it to the Cape Verdean authorities whenever requested; b) Keep a fishing log, under the terms established by specific legislation, in which they must record, in particular, the related fishing operations, including transhipment, the quantities and different species of catches made; c) Keep the VMS system's signal emitting device on board and in working order; d) Provide statistics on catches made and any other information intended for registration under the terms established by specific legislation; e) Permanently display their identification marks, in accordance with regulations.