Establishment of a pilot project on satellite tracking in the NAFO regulatory area

With the objective of improving control and enforcement in the NAFO Regulatory Area and in the framework of the Agreement on Fisheries with Canada, the Community will have to instal satellite-tracking devices on at least 35% of the Community fishing vessels operating in this area in accordance with a number of criteria set out in the Annex. The main purpose of these satellite-tracking devices is the automatic transmission, on an hourly basis, of data relating to the position of Community vessels operating in this area, with a position error which must be less than 500 metres and to communicate this information to the competent authority of the flag Member State and to the Commission. Each Member State must cover the costs involved in installing this system. The Commission must submit a report to NAFO in time for its consideration at the NAFO Annual Meeting of September 1997. The regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1996. �