Article 27 Drifting FADs and supply vesselsF1

Drifting FADs shall be equipped with instrumented buoys. The use of any other buoys, such as radio buoys is prohibited.

A purse seiner shall not follow more than 300 operational buoys at any one time.

The maximum number of instrumented buoys that may be acquired annually for each purse seine vessel is 500. No purse seine vessel shall have more than 500 instrumented buoys (buoy in stock and operational buoy) at any time.

The maximum number of supply vessels shall be two supply vessels in support of not less than five purse seiners F2.... This provision shall not apply F3where only one supply vessel is used.

A single purse seiner shall not be supported by more than one single supply vessel F4... at any time.

F5A fisheries administration must not register new or additional supply vessels in the IOTC record of authorised vessels.