By atuna.com
The fishing zone boundaries under the EU-Mozambique fishing agreement are not clear, says a Spanish purse seiner organization. One of its members, Spanish tuna company Inpesca, recently appealed its fine for illegal tuna fishing in Mozambique waters.
“There is no clear delimitation of the geographical coordinates of the Mozambican waters and the fishing zone in the FPA Protocol,†says Anertz Muniategi, deputy director of ANABAC, Spain’s National Association of Tuna Freezer Vessels. The issue was raised in a joint meeting at the beginning of April, where the European Union (EU) and Mozambique discussed the future protocol of their agreement.
In March, Inpesca denied the allegations that its superseiner, Txori Argi, had entered into Mozambique’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and said the vessel had stayed within the geographical coordinates set out by the EU-Mozambique agreement.
According to Mozambique authorities, the fishing captain said he had been trying to catch a small school of fish when the ship drifted into the region due to a sea current.
The Txori Argi’s crew fully cooperated with Mozambique officials and voluntarily went to the Nacala port, said Inpesca in a statement. Upon inspection, it was noted that the vessel had more than 1000 tons of tuna on board, but it is believed most of this was caught outside of Mozambique’s EEZ.
According to Inpesca, Txori Argi has permits to fish in all waters bordering Mozambique’s EEZ and it has also had a license for the Mozambique zone since Feb.24. All of the company’s ships, including Txori Argi, are authorized to fish in the Indian Ocean by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC).
The Mozambique Ministry of Fisheries fined Inpesca USD 1.2 million in March. The Spanish company said this is the first accusation of illegal fishing in its 40 years of operation.