Fishing activities onboard a Spanish tuna vessel. (Photo: Anfaco)
Technology could replace observers aboard tuna vessels
SPAIN
Tuesday, April 15, 2014, 01:40 (GMT + 9)
Several Spanish tuna vessels operating in the Indian Ocean are in the "testing phase" to use technological equipment for replacing aboard observers.
The idea of the promoters of the initiative is to use adaptive technology to work on board vessels in order to monitor fishing activities in waters where the safety is compromised, such as the Indian Ocean. In these waters, the fishermen face constant threats of "pirates."
The aim is also to have cameras on board the vessels and collect data "to the minute," the newspaper La Opinión informed.
"For security reasons, it [the project] is about equipping boats with technological, electronic monitors that can do the same control job as a scientist without compromising security," explains the Secretary General of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA), Javier Garat.
Through the Initiative Transparency, the Spanish fleet agreed to comply with an "ambitious" regional observers’ programme, which aims to "provide the entire fleet with 100 per cent coverage." This goal is in line with the agreement of the Regional Advisory Board of the Long Distance Fleet of the European Union (LDRAC).
In the case of third countries, the aim of the standard is that a regional observers’ programme that among all coastal nations "can coordinate the provision of observers" to achieve greater efficiency in the fight against illegal fishing implant.
The Spanish fleet also committed itself to a system of co-monitoring, which will involve the use of its tuna fishing fleets in third countries or international waters to detect and report illegal activities to the countries in whose waters they are occurring.
"Our ship owners and employers are doing so, but we want a protocol and we have proposed it to the competent organizations," pointed out Garat.
Related article:
- Tuna fleet reaffirms its commitment to responsible fishing
By Analia Murias
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
Photo Courtesy of FIS Member ANFACO-CECOPESCA - Asociacion Nacional de Fabricantes de Conservas de Pescados y Mariscos-
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