Numerous French vessels denounced for under-reporting tuna catches
MOZAMBIQUE
Tuesday, March fifteen, 2011, 01:50 (GMT + 9)
Failure to comply with catch declarations beneath the Mozambican fisheries law has resulted in the notification of two French tuna purse seiners running underneath the Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Mozambique.
In 2010, eleven French flagged purse seine fishing vessels, represented by the organization Orthongel, had been running in the northern component of the Mozambican EEZ, mainly amongst the parallels 10º 32 and 20º south in between March and June.
The catches have been conserved on board and transferred to cargo reefer ships or unloaded at foreign ports, mostly Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius. The tuna purse seine fleet in no way arrived at a Mozambican port to land their catches, according to the Ministry of Fisheries.
They targeted species under the mandate of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. The composition of catches for the purse seine fleet is about two thirds of skipjack tuna, and less than a single 3rd of yellow-fin tuna.
Below the Mozambican fisheries legislation, tuna fishing vessels are obliged to offer comprehensive data on catches aboard the vessel to the skilled authority upon entry and exit of the EEZ.
Failure to declare, or below report catches is considered a critical infraction. The protocol of the FPA between the EU and Mozambique governs the specific problems relating to these reports as follows, community vessels shall notify, at minimum three hours in advance, the competent Mozambican authorities accountable for monitoring fishing of their intention to enter or leave Mozambiques fishing zone and declare all round quantities and species on board."
The investigation carried out by the Basic Directorate of Fisheries Administration targeted on the comparison among tuna catches declared in the 2010 annual business report and the tuna catches declared by the masters of the fishing vessels upon entry/exit reports for the 2010 fishing time.
The analysis detected severe irregularities and two infractions to the two the Mozambican Fisheries Law 03/90 and the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Mozambique.
The investigation exhibits that four French tuna purse seiners had declared zero catches in the annual company report but the same 4 vessels declared a complete of 341 tonnes of tuna in their 2010 entry/exit declarations and that 6 fishing vessels have, at least, 1 entry/exit report missing and 3 fishing vessels have reported total catches instead of catch per species.
Only two of the eleven French tuna purse seiners fishing in the Mozambican EEZ have correctly reported entries and exits, like their tuna catches onboard.
Furthermore, the investigation resulted in the detection of two significant infractions committed by the tuna purse seiner Avel Vad, owned by the fishing company CMB based mostly in Concarneau, France, and by the tuna purse seiner Franche Terre, owned by the fishing business Sapmer primarily based in La Reunion Island.
Avel Vad and Franche Terre have been charged for below reporting tuna catches in entry/exit reviews, respectively 71 and 58 tonnes of tuna which constitutes an infringement of the two the Mozambican fisheries law and the provisions of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement signed in 2007 in between the EU and the Republic of Mozambique.
The two vessels have been notified for under-reporting catches. When the great and the required sanctions are pronounced by the Minister of Fisheries, the organization is presented eight days to pay the very good.
The Mozambican law could consequence in the seizure of catches and the suspension or cancellation of their fishing licences.
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