News
Two French tuna purse seiners notified for under-reporting catch upon entry/exit of Mozambican EEZ
Mozambique / Maputo/Ministry‚ of‚ Fisheries: Failure to comply with catch declaration under the Mozambican fisheries law has resulted in the notification of 2 French tuna purse seiners operating under the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Mozambique.
In 2010, eleven French flagged purse seine fishing vessel, represented by the company ORTHONGEL, have been operating in the northern part of the Mozambican EEZ, ‚ mainly between the parallels 10‚º 32′ and 20‚º south between March and June. The catches are conserved on board and transferred to cargo reefer ships or unloaded at foreign ports, mainly Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius. The tuna purse seine fleet never calls to a Mozambican port for landing catches. They target species under the mandate of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission. The composition of catch in the purse seine fleet is about two thirds of for skipjack tuna, and less than one third for yellow-fin tuna.
Under the Mozambican fisheries legislation, tuna fishing vessels are obliged to provide detailed data on catch aboard the vessel to the competent authority upon entry and exit of the EEZ. Failure to declare, or under reporting of 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 was made by comparing the tuna catch declared in the 2010 company annual report and the tuna catch declared by the masters of fishing vessels in entry/exit reports for the 2010 fishing season. The analysis permitted to detect 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 have declared zero catches in the annual company report but the same four vessels declared a total of 341 T 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 catch 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 of tuna catch in entry/exit reports, respectively 71 and 58 tons 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 of catch. Once the fine and the accessory sanctions are pronounced by the Minister of Fisheries, the company is given eight days to pay the fine. The Mozambican law makes provision for accessory sanctions, from seizure of the catch to the suspension or cancelation of the fishing licence.