Source: El Universo
The United States will cooperate with Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela to prevent that vessels, carrying flags from those countries, fish tuna in the Eastern Pacific, without authorization and in closed season, according to a US
government source.
“Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela have fishing vessels that do not comply with the rules of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) of which they are members. They have committed offenses in 2009 and 2010, said Laura Cimo, international policy adviser to the National Administration of Oceans, Air and Space (NOAA).â€
NOAA this week sent to Congress its biannual report on compliance with IATTC regulations.
“Although these infringements were registered, the governments of these four Latin American countries are actively cooperating with fisheries management and are making progress. We therefore acknowledge their efforts,†said Cimo.
Under US law, countries that do not cooperate in the implementation of international standards on tuna fishing can be subject to sanctions, including the prohibition to enter US ports to ships with these flags and an import ban on certain fishery products from these countries.
According to the 126-page report, the most frequent violations involve the operation in the Eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) of vessels that are not allowed to fish there due to IATTC membership regulations and vessels that are fishing during closed seasons.
The report also stated violations by fishing vessels flying the Italian and Portuguese flag.
Cimo explained that there are seasonal tuna fishing bans each year. These seasons, appropriate to the biological cycle of the tuna, allow the recovery of tuna schools.
The report registered incidents of both types, and in the case of Ecuador it stated that a fishing vessel had increased the catch capacity breaching the commission’s rules. The report did not mention any details about the Colombian non-conformity. It is said to handle over one small fishing vessel.
Cimo said that the infringements are made by vessels with flags of these countries. This does not necessarily mean that the vessels are linked to the fishing industry of the respective countries. They could be carrying fish to markets in other countries. However, under the international rules, the country that grants the flag to the vessels is responsible for the fishing operations of these ships, she added.