Numerous French vessels denounced for under-reporting tuna catches

MOZAMBIQUE
Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 01:50 (GMT + 9)

Failure to comply with catch declarations under the Mozambican fisheries law has resulted in the notification of 2 French tuna purse seiners operating under 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 company Orthongel, had been operating in the northern part of the Mozambican EEZ, mainly between the parallels 10º 32’ and 20º south between March and June.

The catches were conserved on board and transferred to cargo reefer ships or unloaded at foreign ports, mainly Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius. The tuna purse seine fleet never 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 around two thirds of skipjack tuna, and less than one third of yellow-fin tuna.

Under the Mozambican fisheries legislation, tuna fishing vessels are obliged to provide detailed data on catches aboard the vessel to the competent authority upon entry and exit of the EEZ.

Failure to declare, or under report catches is considered a serious infraction. The protocol of the FPA between the EU and Mozambique governs the specific conditions relating to these reports as follows, “community vessels shall notify, at least three hours in advance, the competent Mozambican authorities responsible for monitoring fishing of their intention to enter or leave Mozambique’s fishing zone and declare overall quantities and species on board."

The investigation carried out by the General Directorate of Fisheries Administration focused on the comparison between tuna catches declared in the 2010 annual company report and the tuna catches declared by the masters of the fishing vessels upon entry/exit reports for the 2010 fishing season.

The analysis detected serious irregularities and two infractions to both the Mozambican Fisheries Law 03/90 and the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Mozambique.

The investigation shows that four French tuna purse seiners had declared zero catches in the annual company report but the same four vessels declared a total of 341 tonnes of tuna in their 2010 entry/exit declarations; and that six fishing vessels have, at least, one entry/exit report missing and three 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, including their tuna catches onboard.

Furthermore, the investigation resulted in the detection of two serious infractions committed by the tuna purse seiner Avel Vad, owned by the fishing company CMB based in Concarneau, France, and by the tuna purse seiner Franche Terre, owned by the fishing company Sapmer based in La Reunion Island.

Avel Vad and Franche Terre have been charged for under reporting tuna catches in entry/exit reports, respectively 71 and 58 tonnes of tuna which constitutes an infringement of both the Mozambican fisheries law and the provisions of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement signed in 2007 between the EU and the Republic of Mozambique.

The two vessels have been notified for under-reporting catches. Once the fine and the necessary sanctions are pronounced by the Minister of Fisheries, the company is given eight days to pay the fine.

The Mozambican law could result in the seizure of catches and the suspension or cancellation of their fishing licences.

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