News
French purse seiner Sterenn arrested in Sierra Leone
The French purse seiner FV Sterenn (IMO 9225548) is under arrest in Freetown for failing to communicate its entry to Sierra Leone waters as well as failing to submit catch reports. The vessel also failed to display‚ its call sign. The tuna is believed to be a mixture of yellow fin, skipjack and bigeye. The‚ Sierra‚ Leonian‚ government has settled on a fine‚ of 703,970 USD, including the value of the catch.
FV Sterenn was arrested by a Joint Maritime Committee (JMC) boarding team on the USS Simpson as part of the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP) mission to Sierra Leone.‚ A similar mission in December 2011 resulted in four fishing vessels seized by Sierra Leonean authorities in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.‚ The AMLEP programme is a security force assistance mission/security cooperation mission under USA NAVAF/6th Fleet Africa Partnership Station (APS) program in order to build the capacity of the host nation and strengthen regional maritime security.‚
The arrest of the French vessel is the latest piece of a broad crackdown on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by the Government of Sierra Leone IUU fishing costs the country tens of millions of dollars each year in lost economic activity and Government revenue. In particular, it impairs the life chances of some of West Africa’s most vulnerable communities, who depend on fishing for food security and employment. To protect these communities and the coastal environment, in the past six months the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has arrested and fined four vessels for illegal fishing‚€the Ocean 3, Marampa 803, Yuan Yu 701 and the Puyu 6016. These vessels paid a combined total of $350,000 for a range of IUU offences. Maritime surveillance is now being coordinated by the Joint Operations Centre (JOC), within the JMC.‚
In addition, the Government is pursuing four other vessels for IUU activity‚€the Marcia 777, Kum Myeong 702, the Five Star and the Ocean 3. All three are flagged to South Korea and fled Sierra Leone before they could be fined by the Government.‚ Their flag state, South Korea, and their likely destination, Guinea, have both been contacted to affect an arrest and return of the vessels to Sierra Leone. Alongside these enforcement measures, MFMR is tightening rules governing the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems by licensed vessels and reforming its fisheries observer programme.‚ ‚
Dr. Soccoh Kabia, Honourable Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, said: ‘We are working to ensure that every fishing vessel within Sierra Leone’s waters operates in compliance with our laws. It is crucial that we protect our valuable marine resources, in order that they continue to be a source of livelihoods, food security and government revenue. We are grateful to the French government for their swift cooperation in this matter and for exercising their duties as a flag State. We are reaching out to partners in the region and beyond to ensure that we coordinate our efforts to combat IUU fishing. This sends a clear message to poachers and would be poachers that illegal fishing is not tolerated in the maritime waters of Sierra Leone.’‚