(4) The Authority shall as appropriate adopt and apply the following general principles in relation to fisheries management: (b) adopt, where necessary, conservation and management measures for species belonging to the same ecosystem or associated with or dependent upon the target stocks, with a view to maintaining or restoring populations of such species above levels at which their reproduction may become seriously threatened;

(2) In determining the allocations of participatory rights in the fishery, the Authority shall take into consideration the following in addition to requirements of Subsection (2): (e) whether there has been compliance, while in the waters under national jurisdiction of any other State in the region, with the terms of any fisheries management agreement to which the Republic of the Marshall Islands is party and which is implemented in such other State.

Commercial shark fishing is hereby prohibited as a target fishery in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Fisheries waters.[new part and section inserted by P.L.2011-63]

(1) No person shall catch, capture or intentionally engage in fishing for shark or any part thereof or intentionally remove the fins or tail of any shark or otherwise mutilate or injure any shark within the land or fisheries waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1): (a) A person who holds a license or permit from the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority to conduct research on sharks and carries out activities in accordance with that license or permit; (b) A person fishing for shark for subsistence use is permitted, provided that no person shall harvest shark that has been declared as protected species. The Authority may make Regulation imposing restrictions or catch limit on all or certain species; (c) Any purse seiner, long-liner or carrier or other support vessels in possession of shark or shark fins or any other parts of shark, caught outside of the fishery waters of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, provided that the shark or shark fins or any other parts of shark shall be: (i) validated by catch records or relevant transfer documentation, if transhipped; and (ii) reported together with an entry notice prior to the entry into the Republic of the Marshall Islands fisheries waters. (d) In the case where a purse seiner inadvertently caught or captured any shark, the purse seiner shall act to immediately release, as soon as such event is recognized, whether the shark is dead or alive. For the purpose of this section, ‚such event‛ means the selective removal and release of sharks when visibly identified within the catch during transhipment. (3) No person shall, receive, transfer, transship or trade any shark, shark fins or any other parts of shark, whilst in the RMI waters including ports. For the purpose of this subsection it shall be a rebuttable presumption that if any shark or any part of a shark is found aboard a vessel, the shark, or part of a shark, is deemed possessed or transferred in violation of this subsection. (4) The presumption above may be rebutted upon satisfactory proof that shark or part of shark found onboard was caught outside RMI Fishery Waters, and validated in accordance with subsection (2), paragraph (c) above. (5) No person, operator, or fishing vessel licensed to fish in the fishery waters of the Marshall Islands shall have fishing gear or equipment constructed or manufactured with trace wire, use or caused to use a trace wire. The Authority may make regulations and fishing license

(a) The deployment or servicing of a fish aggregating device and/or any associated electronic equipment within the Arrangement Area is prohibited during the prohibition period. (b) A fish aggregating device and/or associated electronic equipment shall not be retrieved by a vessel licensed to fish pursuant to the Act during the prohibition period unless: (1) the fish aggregating device and/or associated electronic equipment are retrieved and kept on board the vessel until landed or until the end of the prohibition; and (2) the operator of a vessel notifies the Director of its intention to retrieve a fish aggregating device, including its position, date and time, and (3) the vessel does not conduct any set either for a period of seven (7) days after retrieval or within a fifty (50) mile radius of the point of retrieval. (c) The Minister may exempt all or part of the exclusive economic zone or any vessel from the conditions prescribed in Sub-Regulations (a) and (b) of Regulation 6 if: (1) the Minister determines that a disproportionate burden will be suffered from application of the condition; and (2) a management plan prepared pursuant to Section 119(1)(b) of the Act provides alternative mechanisms for the reduction of fishing on fish aggregating devices by local fishing vessels highly dependent on fishing on fish aggregating devices . (d) Subject to sub-Regulation (c), no purse seine fishing vessel shall conduct any set during the prohibition period within one (1) nautical mile of a fish aggregating device or of a point where a fish aggregating device has been retrieved by another vessel within twenty four (24) hours immediately preceding the set. (e) The operator of a vessel shall not allow the vessel to be used in any way to aggregate fish.

Fishing with poisons or explosives. (1) No person shall: (a) use, permit to be used or attempt to use any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite or explosive substance or device, for the purpose of killing, taking, stunning, stupefying or disabling fish or in any way rendering fish more easily caught: (b) carry, permit to be carried, possess or control any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite or explosive substance or device, in circumstances which indicate the intention of its use for any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (a); (c) place in the water or assist in placing in the water any: (i) chemical, poison or noxious substance or material whether of manufactured or natural origin; (ii) dynamite, or any explosive substance or device, for any of the purposes referred to in paragraph (a). (2) No person shall: (a) land, display for sale, sell, deal in, transport, receive or possess any fish or fish product taken by any means which contravenes this Section; (b) knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that any fish or fish product has been taken in contravention of this Section, fail or refuse to give, on request, to any authorized officer information regarding: (i) any activity described in Subsection (1), or any support of or contribution to such activity; (ii) the source of his supply of any fish or fish product referred to in subparagraph (a) of this Subsection. (3) For the purposes of this Section, the terms “poisonous”, “chemicals” and “substance” include but are not limited to hypocholorus acid or any of its salts, including bleaches commonly sold under various trade names such as Clorox and Purex, and bleaching powders, preparations containing ratenone, tephrosin or plant material from Barrington asiatica, coculusferrandianus, hura crepitans, piscidia erythrina, tephrosia purpurea and wikstremia. (4) A person who contravenes Subsection (1) or (2) commits an offense and upon conviction: (a) in respect of Subsection (l)-(a)(i), (b)(i) and (c)(i) and Subsection (2): (i) in respect of a citizen, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or may be imprisoned up to three months, or both; (ii) in respect of a non-citizen or a citizen acting on behalf of a corporate entity, shall be fined not more than $250.000 or may be imprisoned up to six months, or both; (b) in respect of Subsection (l)-(a)(ii), (b)(ii) and (c)(ii): (i) in respect of a citizen, shall be fined not more than $20,000 or may be imprisoned up to six months, or both; (ii) in respect of a non-citizen or a citizen acting on behalf of a corporate entity, shall be fined not more than $500,000 or may be imprisoned up to six months, or both. (5) In any proceedings for any offense against this Section, a certificate in writing, issued under Section 547 of Chapter 5 of this Title, stating the cause of death or injury of any fish, shall be prima facie evidence of that fact. (6) For the purposes of this Section, any explosive, poison or other noxious substance found on board any fishing vessel shall be presumed to be intended for the purposes referred to in Subsection (1 )(a) of this Section. (7) All fish or fish products seized under this Section shall be confiscated, and any vessel or vehicle used to transport such fish or fish products may be confiscated, and disposed of in such manner as the Director determines. [P.L. 1997-60, §32.]