La pesca ilegal, no declarada y no
reglamentada (INDNR) representa una amenaza mundial para la pesca sostenible,
así como para la ordenación y la conservación de los recursos pesqueros y la
biodiversidad marina. En los últimos 10 años ha adquirido cada vez más
importancia, como instrumento de lucha contra la pesca INDNR, que los Estados
rectores de los puertos dispongan de mejores medidas de control. La importancia
que han cobrado los Estados rectores de los puertos en la lucha contra las
prácticas pesqueras insostenibles se debe en gran medida a que los estados de
los pabellones no han controlado con eficacia las operaciones pesqueras de los
barcos que enarbolan sus banderas.
En las edición de diciembre de la Revista
Pesca se podrá apreciar que la embarcación Lafayette, ya con el nuevo nombre de
Damanzaihao y con bandera peruana ha sido presentada formalmente por el Estado
peruano ante la Organización regional Pesquera del Pacífico Sur.
Esta es una decisión sectorial que tiene
implicaciones internacionales que pueden ser complicadas.
La pregunta es si la decisión de Dicapi y
Produce cuentan con el aval y/o conocimiento de Palacio de Gobierno.
Asumiendo que lo actuado por el estado
peruano en relación al buque pesquero Lafayette está encuadrado dentro de la
legalidad, es conveniente conocer a lo que esta acción ha obligado al
Perú de aquí en adelante.
Mención aparte es destacar la censurable e
indebida actuación de las autoridades peruanas al otorgar la bandera peruana a
un buque pesquero cuestionado internacionalmente y a la “ingenua” comunicación
del Ministerio de la Producción informando a la OROP del Pacífico Sur que dicho
barco actuará en actividades de apoyo logístico en el Pacífico Sud oriental,
amparado por la bandera del Perú. Todos
saben que el mencionado buque es el barco factoría más grande del mundo, por lo
cual su actividad principal es procesar pesca y congelarla. A menos que se
entienda a dicha actividad como apoyo logístico, aunque la definición correcta
es de abastecimiento de materiales, víveres y combustible. ¿Alguien puede creer
que semejante embarcación será usada en esas actividades nada más?
Como evidencia la carta de la Secretaria de
la OROP que se publica en la Revista Pesca de Diciembre en su versión original
en inglés, el barco en cuestión ha sido observado como vinculado a la pesca
ilegal, no declarada y no reglamentada.
Resulta pues que la acción de funcionarios
de Dicapi y Produce, totalmente legales seguramente, han puesto o deben haber
puesto a la Cancillería Peruana en un problema. Han expuesto al país
internacionalmente como carente de políticas pesqueras sólidas y comprometidas
con la erradicación de la pesca ilegal en el mundo.
Han convertido al Perú en un vientre de
alquiler de banderas colocándolo al nivel de todos los países que otorgan
bandera a embarcaciones cuestionadas y de dudosa reputación.
En el siguiente link se puede leer la
noticia en inglés que está circulando por toda la web:
Y en los siguientes enlaces se puede acceder
a las comunicaciones entre el Ministerio de la Producción y la OROP
PACIFIC ANDES’ DAMANZAIHAO
ON DRAFT IUU LIST
October 30, 2014, 10:11 am
Eva Tallaksen
Pacific Andes in talks to raise more debt as share price drops on high
trading
Pacific Andes subsidiary launches project for small-scale shrimp farmers
Peru fuels controversy as Pacific Andes’ factory-ship transships in
South Pacific
Damanzaihao, the flagship mothership of Pacific Andes formerly known as
Lafayette, has been included on the draft list of illegal, unreported and
unregulated (IUU) fishing drawn up by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries
Management Organization, Undercurrent News has learnt.
The IUU list will be circulated on Friday Oct. 31, the SPRFMO’s
executive secretary Johanne Fischer wrote in a letter seen by Undercurrent.
In the letter, dated Oct. 29 and addressed to a Peruvian fisheries
official, Fischer refers to a notification from Peru which it received the
previous day.
In the notification, Peru said it had now authorized Damanzaihao to take
part in the SPRFMO fishery.
However, said Fischer, Damanzaihao’s activities in the SPRFMO zone over
the summer — as reported by Undercurrent last month — before having received
any such authorization “makes it difficult for the secretariat to accept this
vessel for inclusion in the SPRFMO record of authorized vessels”.
The letter, addressed to Carlos Carillo Mora, director of fishing and
production for human consumption within the production ministry Produce, starts
by stating that a previous notification referenced by Peru was never received
by the SPRFMO.
Fischer then notes that under SPRFMO rules, authorizations are valid 15
days after the notification to the secretariat.
This means Damanzaihao — which changed its flag from Russia to Mongolia
and then to Peru in mid July — would only be allowed to start taking part in
the fishery as of Nov. 12.
But these are “technical details”, said Fishcher.The main problem, she
said, is that including Damanzaihao on the list of authorized vessels would
send a signal that the SPRFMO is not effectively combating IUU.
“[There] is a more serious and fundamental concern regarding the
Damanzaihao which makes it difficult for the Secretariat to accept this vessel
for inclusion in the SPRFMO Record of authorized vessels,” wrote Fischer.
“The vessel has been accused of severe breaches of the SPRFMO Convention
and the [conservation and management measures] adopted by the Commission … and
is consequently included in the SPRFMO Draft IUU List which will be circulated
on 31 October 2014.
“Therefore the Secretariat is concerned that incorporating the
Damanzaihao in the official Record of authorized vessels could convey the
impression that the Organization is not effectively combating IUU fishing, and
might also prejudice the final IUU determination in respect to the vessel.”
The attention to Damanzaihao’s activities in the media makes it even
harder for the secretariat to accept the inclusion, wrote Fischer:
Furthermore, in the case of the Damanzaihao the situation is made more
serious by the fact that its unauthorized presence and activities in the SPRFMO
Convention Area since early this year has been widely noted and has attracted
attention in the international media.
Accordingly it is likely that an inclusion of the vessel in the SPRFMO
Record of authorized vessels could generate international public discussion as
to the level of commitment of the SPRFMO Commission and its Members to the
international efforts to eliminate IUU fishing.
Damanzaihao is owned by Pacific Andes’ fishing arm, the Singapore-listed
China Fishery Group.
On Monday, Pacific Andes said is in talks to refinance debt, after it
failed to convince holders of Copeinca’s $250m bonds to guarantee up to $1.2
billion in group debt for China Fishery.
The Hong Kong-listed company added it was not aware of any reason for
the “unusual” fluctuation in its share price and trading volume seen on Monday,
Oct. 27.
The group’s share price dropped sharply that day, from HKD 0.375 to HKD
0.335, while the trading volume rose to 25.1 million shares traded. The drop
has continued since and trading opened this Thursday at HKD 0.320, according to
Bloomberg data.
According to an Undercurrent source citing satellite information, the
factory ship is currently docked in Chimbote, north of Peru’s capital Lima, and
might have been processing squid in recent weeks.
The pelagic catchers Liafjord, Pacific Hunter, Pacific Voyager and
Pacific Champion are also docked in the harbor, said this source.
Satellite data obtained by Undercurrent last month and reproduced here
showed that the factory-vessel had been most likely transshipping for jack
mackerel since mid to late August until early to mid September at least.
Vessel tracks from satellite images showed Damanzaihao had been in
international waters off the coast of Peru from mid June to mid August, and
then off the Chilean coast since at least Aug. 23.
AIS data from Marine Traffic service, to which we had access for a few
days in early September, clearly showed the mothership amid a group of fishing
vessels including the four above catchers off Chilean waters.
Fishing for jack mackerel and taking part in new or exploratory
fisheries in those waters is managed by the SPRFMO, which is headquartered in
Wellington, New Zealand.
Undercurrent has been unable to obtain clarity on the matter from Peru,
despite requests for comments to numerous officials at both Peru’s foreign
ministry and Produce before and after our last article in mid September.
An email from the ministry of foreign affairs simply stated that Peru is
looking into the situation. “The competent bodies of [Produce] have been
carrying out the investigations, the results of which will keep you informed,”
Luis R Arribasplata, director of maritime affairs at Peru’s ministry of foreign
affairs, responded in a statement to Undercurrent on Sept. 11.
Pacific Andes itself had told Undercurrent that Peru granted an
authorization for Damanzaihao to take part in the SPRFMO fishery on Aug. 15.
“Our understanding is that the vessel is authorized as we were copied on
a letter from the Peruvian government on 15 August, 2014, providing the vessel
details to the SPRFMO,” Geoffrey Walsh, spokesperson for the company and its
Hong Kong-based fishing subsidiary China Fishery Group, told Undercurrent on
Sept. 15.
Vague communication from Peru could have caused confusion and led
Pacific Andes to believe it did have authorization to take part in the SPRFMO,
an industry source told Undercurrent at the time.
A request for comment to Pacific Andes on Oct. 8 was not answered.
The letter from the SPRFMO is reproduced below and can also be accessed
here.
