ALBACORA, S.A.
POLICY REGARDING THE TRANSACTIONS WITH VESSELS THAT USE ONLY NON – ENTANGLING FADs
(ISSF Conservation Measure 3.5)
ALBACORA S.A., an environmentally responsible company, hereby publicly states that it requires onboard its vessels the use of only non-entangling FADs and does not permit aboard its vessels the practice of deploying FADs that are of Highest Entanglement Risk as defined in the ISSF Guide for Non-Entangling FADs. This policy shall apply to all new FAD deployments, regardless of the type of vessel that deploys the FADs.
In order to achieve this, the characteristics of any FADs to be deployed by the Company’s vessels respond to the following points:
For the FAD raft/grill, we commit to:
- Use only small mesh netting (< 2.5 inch / 7 cm stretched mesh) for both upper and submerged parts and wrapping it tightly with no loose netting hanging from the raft ([1]) ([2]).
For the tail structure (i.e. subsurface hanging structure), we commit to:
- The net of any mesh size used as submerged tail, tying it tightly into sausage-like bundles.
To support the global transition to non-entangling FADs, ISSF adopted Conservation Measure 3.5 on transactions with ships using only non-entangling FADs. The measure stipulates that ISSF participating companies “transact only with those purse seine vessels whose owners have a public policy on the use of only non-entangling FADs” and that the policy must refer to the ISSF Guide for Non-Entanglement DCPs.
Concerned about this problem, ALBACORA certifies that its Fleet only deploys non-entanglement FADs based on ISSF guides during its operations. We will only buy from ship-owning companies that have a published policy that adhere to that same policy.
This statement is visible onboard every fishing vessel in the ALBACORA fleet, in all languages commonly spoken onboard.
This policy was adopted on March 27, 2024.
[1] From January 1, 2020 IOTC and from January 1, 2024 WCPFC prohibit the construction of FADs with entangling materials, and the use of netting for their construction is also prohibited. As of January 1, 2025, the same prohibition will come into force in the IATTC area.
[2] As of April 1, 2025, MC 3.5 will be repealed and replaced by MC 3.7