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He National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) requested special measures in order to ensure Chilean interests when the Chinese fishing fleet, composed of about 350 ships, cross the Strait of Magellan.
The director of the agency, Alicia Gallardo Lagno, exposed this Wednesday before the Senate Maritime Interest Commission the surveillance and inspection actions carried out by Sernapesca in coordination with the Maritime Authority due to the presence of a massive Chinese fishing fleet, which currently operates in international waters off Peru.
In this context, the director commented that regarding the public interest that this year the operation of the Asian fleet has awakened, requested the implementation of an active surveillance system to fully monitor this fleet, particularly when it crosses the Strait of Magellan at the end of the year.
The authority highlighted that “as a country we are a very active participant in international agreements such as the South Pacific Fisheries Organization (RFMO-PS) and the FAO Port State Measures Agreement. Second, both the maritime authority and the fisheries authority, we are coordinated and we work together in monitoring, control and surveillance of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing ”.
Known situation
Gallardo explained that, despite the public interest generated by the presence of more than 350 Chinese fishing vessels in the South Pacific, the situation is not unknown to the entities in charge to monitor the fishing activities of the national and foreign fleet in our country.
In this sense, the director of Sernapesca indicated that these ships usually carry out fishing activities in international waters in front of Ecuador and Peru and then go through towards the Atlantic through the Strait of Magellan, but without carrying out fishing tasks on the way.
Active satellite surveillance
In a direct link with the Sernapesca Monitoring Room, the director showed how the satellite surveillance system works for both the national fishing fleet (through the system called “VMS”) and the foreign fleet, thanks to a strategic alliance with the NGO Global Fishing Watch. In addition, the authority stressed that all this information is public and is available on the institutional website.
Gallardo explained that this surveillance is carried out in close collaboration with the Navy, an institution that also has a monitoring room, and which also complements face-to-face surveillance through its area, surface and underwater fleet.
For its part, Sernapesca has expertise in the interpretation of georeferenced data, which allows not only to determine the location of each ship, but also confirm or rule out if they carried out fishing activities, by analyzing your navigation track, among other data.
Regarding this particular fleet, from Sernapesca they explained that the “squid” boats they use a system known as “potera”, for which they must be totally stopped for several hours and turn on powerful lights to attract squid, in an activity that takes place at night, therefore it is easily detectable when they are doing fishing.
Likewise, This Chinese fleet is duly registered with the South Pacific RFMO, and reports his position to the authorities of his country, who in turn inform the international body.
However, in the event of possible evasions of the surveillance system (turning off the satellite positioning system, for example) both the Navy and Sernapesca activate specific protocols both to protect the exclusive economic zone from illegal fishing incursions, as well as to report any breach in the corresponding instances.
“To date, neither the Navy nor we have detected any breach by this fleet,” said Gallardo, who also reported that, in the event that any of these ships wanted to enter the Chilean port (for supplies, crew replacement, etc.) the call would apply “Policy for the use of National Ports by Foreign Flag Vessels that fish in the adjacent High Seas”.
This protocol contains a series of requirements to authorize the entry of the ship, such as delivering its satellite navigation records, presenting fishing licenses, etc. The foregoing has implied that from 2009 to date, only seven of the 17 applications submitted by foreign vessels have been accepted.
“And when that happens, an exhaustive inspection is carried out in the port jointly with the Navy, the PDI, among other entities,” said the authority.
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