END OF SEASON INSPECTION HELD IN URUGUAY
FIBS
Vet
The end of season fishing boat inspections didn’t happen in the Falklands, which is usual practise. Because of where many of the vessels were when the season closed it turned out to be cheaper to send the Senior Vet to Uruguay to carry out the work.
Steve Pointing (SP).
Cut: 6
In: I went at…
Out: on our behalf.
Dur: 3’29"
SP: I went at very short notice, not last Saturday but the Saturday before. I didn’t know I was going until about 1030 in the morning. I was phoned up by one of the Fishing Company representatives to ask if I could go up to Montevideo and do the end of season fisheries inspections there rather than down here in Stanley.
The reason for that being that most of the fishing boats – the Falkland Islands registered fishing boats were fishing two days north of the Falkland Islands and if I insisted that they came back down here, it would be two days sailing south and another 2 days sailing North to get to where they actually started out. That had
both time and financial implications. It was cheaper for me to go to Montevideo and do the inspections there.
The flights and accommodation and everything like that was paid for by the fishing companies. During the course of the week, I inspected 11 Falkland Islands registered fishing vessels. Everything was organised by the shipping agent representatives in Montevideo, so I dealt with about three different shipping agencies. I have to admit, it went incredibly well and smoothly and was very well organised, considering it happened at such short notice.
CG: So, what are you looking for during these inspections?
SP: Basically, this is a transshipment inspection, which is a more minor inspection than the annual inspection that I do. Often they would transship from their hold into a reefer vessel but because it is the end of the fishing season, the fishing vessel itself, is acting as its own reefer. Having inspected them in Montevideo, they all head off for Vigo in Spain where they will discharge their consignment of fishery products.
My inspection, really, is to make sure that all the paperwork that the EU require is in place so that temperature records, cleaning records, the whole range of different things the European require then I do an inspection of the factory deck where all the products are processed. It needs to be clean, tidy, hygienic – all that sort of thing and then I write a report. Providing I happy with the way the ship has finished its season, then I am asked to issue a health certificate to accompany the fishery products back into the European Union. I wouldn’t do that if I wasn’t happy with what I actually found on the vessel. My role is to actually issue a health certificate to say that the product onboard has been produced in a clean fashion and the temperatures in the hold have stayed at a very cold temperature that kept everything frozen and nothing has been allowed to defrost. I have simply done all that in a different place.
CG: Will they all be getting their certificates.
SP: Yes. They were in excellent condition There wasn’t one that wasn’t presented in very good fashion indeed.
The other really useful thing that I have been able to do since I went there, I had words with the Uruguayan fishery inspection authority and although it’s not in place yet, I think now that I know somebody there and we had a word about what I expect and what they do, I think they may be able to help us out and do inspections on our behalf in the future if something like this arises in the future where all our fishing boats are away north of the Falkland Islands at the end of the season and economically and time wise it is not a good idea doe them to come all the way down here then the Uruguayan Fishery Inspection Service may be able to do it on our behalf.
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