A couple of weeks ago I commented on the EU's FVO (now Directorate F of DG SANTE) findings related to the common practice of using the fish wells to transport fuel in purse seiners and longliners. At the time I could not go into too many details because the reports weren't published. They are now.
Smells more than fishy in there...
While the this is not the 1st time the FVO found this issue they have grounded their rationale in these two published reports for Ecuador and Colombia. You can download the reports from the links under each countries' name.
This will have a big impact on the logistic of the fleets and on the Competent Authorities (CA) of flag States authorised to export fish to the EU that controls them.
From now on, if an inspector of a CA of the country (the flag state) authorised to export to the EU verify this practice, then the fish in that well would not be elegible for the EU. Furthermore, if the practice continues, that vessel should be taken out of the EU approved list, hence all its production is not eligible to the EU (either directly of via any processing company that exports to the EU)
The interesting question now is, what is the role of the CA in a Port State if they are required to verify the conditions of unloading and they see that the vessel is loading fuel in a well. Should they inform the responsible CA (the flag state one) of the issue?
If it was a fishery non compliance they should under PSMA (Port State Measures Agreement) but there is no such an obligation for the EU market access requirements other than good practices and due diligence.
Jope can guarantee that no Fuel has ever been there... we don't need to do it, we fish near by and we don't get fuel subidies.
what a fish well looks like...