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Tuna purse seiner. (Photo Credit: Facebook/TunaSeiners)
Responsible fishing good practices commitments reviewed
SPAIN
Wednesday, May 07, 2014, 22:00 (GMT + 9)
Freezer tuna purse seiner owners of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) met to review their commitments to "good practices for responsible tuna purse seine fishing" acquired in February 2012.
The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Expertise Technological Centre Specialized in Marine and Food Research (AZTI-TECNALIA) in Biscay, was attended by representatives of the National Association of Tuna Freezer Owners (ANABAC) and of the Organization of Big Tuna Freezer Owner Producers (OPAGAC).
At the meeting the text on best practices was updated, collecting all the experiences learned during these two years.
In addition, attendees strengthened prior commitments and adopted a series of measures to strengthen their compliance and audit.
"The extensive experience in the design of no gillnetting fish aggregating devices (FADs) that comply with the technical conditions for not gillnetting by-caught fauna while having the tuna aggregating capacity has made it possible to identify designs that meet these two requirements," CEPESCA notes in a press release.
Therefore, the owners agreed that from now on "all the FADs manufactured and placed in the sea will necessarily be anti-gillnetting," adds the Confederacy.
In order to verify and ensure compliance with this agreement, the tuna entrepreneurs decided that fishing vessels must carry scientific observers on board at a high percentage.
Just towards the end of 2014, observers will be present in all the tuna boats.
The owners will also decide to request AZTI-TECNALIA to verify the implementation of such practices.
Meanwhile, scientists at the Centre made the commitment to offer the appropriate means to audit compliance.
Finally, the owners reported that the Monitoring Committee shall meet at intervals of at least once per quarter and will coordinate their actions with the signatory institutions of the 'Strategic plan for science and technology for sustainable management of tropical tuna fisheries by freezer seiners.'
These entities are the General Secretariat of Fisheries, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) and AZTI-TECNALIA.
The next meeting of the Monitoring Committee will be held in September this year.
Related article:
- Third country flagged tuna vessels to abide European controls
By Analia Murias
[email protected]
www.seafood.media
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