Lared Noticias february, 22 - 2006

Spanish trawler licensed in the Falklands is caught by the Argentinian coastguards inside the national waters

The F/V “John Cheek” belongs to the Spanish fishing company Pescapuerta, which operates in the area another nine illegitimately licensed freezing trawlers from the Falklands together with another five vessels licensed in Argentina as a consequence of the former Fishery Agreement signed between the EU and that country.

 
The seizure of the John Cheek by the Argentinian authorities highlights once more the problem of the illegitimate licenses granted by the British government to operate from the Falklands Islands and used for carrying out illegal fishing raids into the Argentinian EEZ by boats of various origins: Spain, Korea and Taiwan, among them.
 
But, besides that, the Coastguards’ operation strongly encourages the local debate about the behavior to be followed towards those foreign fishing companies operating national flag boats and, at the same time, controlling many others that fly the "non-recognized" flag invented by the British for the Falklands.

The Pescapuerta case is not the only one. Three other Spanish companies do the same: Pereira operates three boats licensed in Argentina and six others licensed in the Falklands; Freiremar controls one Argentine-licensed vessel and another Falklands-licensed one; finally, Pescanova operates fourteen and five respectively.
 
In addition, there are Spanish and Korean vessels operating successively from both the continent and the islands. Likewise, there are boats such as the Unionsur 1 –owned by a Chilean company, EMDEPES, - which have been granted a license to operate illegitimately from the Falklands in the Southwest Atlantic, while their government backs their claim to the Argentine sovereignty.

There are even non-Argentine-licensed vessels operating in the same area and reaching our ports to off-load and re-export their goods due to advantageous operational costs; this situation is tolerated by port and customs authorities.

A coherent strategy for restoring the exercise of the national sovereignty over the wide maritime spaces seized by Great Britain as well as the fulfillment of the coastal state obligations should be perceived by showing in a tangible manner that such contradictions will not be tolerated. Do they really want to be treated the same way as national companies are, as they have always claimed? Very well; then, they will have to decide whether to be here or there. They will have to strike a balance between costs and benefits.

 

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