Holders of fishing permits for fishing vessels flying the national or foreign flag, with a gross register tonnage (GRT) greater than 10, must allow the boarding of up to two scientific observers during fishing trips when determined by the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources, for the purposes provided in Article 26 of the Law being regulated.

The National Directorate of Aquatic Resources may also arrange for the boarding of scientific observers on other types of vessels (non-fishing) in activities that, due to the nature of their operations, may have effects on hydrobiological resources or provide relevant information about these resources and the ecosystem that contains them, for the institution or the country.

The scientific observers shall be responsible for collecting, recording, and reporting biological and fishing data, as well as any other information requested by the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources during commercial, industrial, scientific, or research fishing operations. Under no circumstances shall they serve as inspectors, auditors, or certifiers of catches, nor may they disclose, destroy, or improperly remove the data collected or any information they become aware of in the course of their duties. The information collected by the observers shall be managed by the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources and used for the purposes indicated above.

For their hiring, scientific observers must register in an Observers Registry, which will be created for this purpose by the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources, establishing the requirements that must be met for its formation and integration.

For the appointment of observers, the holder of the fishing permit or the shipowner must notify the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources of the start of each fishing trip in the time, manner, and by the procedure determined by the Directorate, except in cases where the departure is from a foreign port, in which case the notification must be made 15 days prior to departure.

The National Directorate of Aquatic Resources shall notify the appointment of the observer to the holder of the permit and/or the shipowner, to the National Naval Prefecture, and to any other authorities as necessary to facilitate the boarding. In the event of omissions in the communication of the departure date or any other aspect that prevents the designation of an observer by the shipowning company, the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources may suspend the fishing permit, notifying the National Naval Prefecture accordingly. The maritime authority shall not authorize the departure of vessels that, having been assigned an observer, do not have the observer included in the crew on board, nor of those vessels whose fishing permits have been suspended due to non-payment of the observers' per diem allowances, as established by Article 205 of Law No. 17.296, dated February 21, 2001, as amended by Article 151 of Law No. 18.834, dated November 4, 2011, and by Article 171 of Law No. 19.149, dated October 24, 2013. For this purpose, the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources shall make the necessary communications.

Shipowners must ensure that the captains or masters of their vessels provide the observers with full cooperation so that they can carry out their duties. For this purpose, they must be provided with adequate space for data collection and sample analysis, as well as a suitable area to process the captured data. Compliance with the obligation to cooperate also includes providing suitable accommodations, food, communication, and safety facilities for the scientific observers. The company must provide the observer with access to the vessel's communication equipment to transmit the relevant information to the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources.

The observer must have free access to all areas of the vessel, especially the bridge or the place where the navigation instruments are located, to directly monitor the vessel's positioning.

The observer must fulfill the assigned duties and submit the corresponding report within a period of no more than 5 business days after the end of the fishing trip, for evaluation and subsequent authorization of the per diem for the days of navigation or boarding incurred. Observers who fail to submit these reports or do not meet the requirements of their assigned duties may face postponement of their designation for future trips or removal from the observers' registry.

Transshipment of products from fishing activities in waters and ports is prohibited, except for export, in which case transshipment must always take place in port and under the control of competent authorities. The National Directorate of Aquatic Resources may authorize, by reasoned resolution, transshipment of products at sea destined for national ports, when it considers such operation appropriate for duly accredited technical reasons and under the control of the competent authority.