---
kind: "section"
citation: "16 U.S.C. § 7709"
title: "16"
title_heading: "Conservation"
number: "7709"
heading: "Exclusive economic zone notification"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/16/7709"
units:
  - "Chapter 96 — North Pacific Fisheries Convention"
---

# §7709. Exclusive economic zone notification


Masters of commercial [fishing vessels](/usc/16/7701.md?p=8) of countries fishing under the management authority of the [North Pacific Fisheries Convention](/usc/16/7701.md?p=10) that do not carry vessel monitoring systems capable of communicating with United States enforcement authorities shall, prior to or as soon as reasonably possible after, entering and transiting the [exclusive economic zone](/usc/16/7701.md?p=5) bounded by the [Convention Area](/usc/16/7701.md?p=3), ensure that all fishing gear on board the vessel is stowed below deck or otherwise removed from the place it is normally used for [fishing activities](/usc/16/7701.md?p=7-A) and placed where it is not readily available for [fishing activities](/usc/16/7701.md?p=7-A).


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 114–327, title I, § 109, Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1984.)