How to register vessels

The FFA Vessel Registration period is changed to a flexible one year period. As a result of the FFC74 decision, the fixed registration period (July-June) has now been changed to a flexible registration period which is operationally beneficial to the clients, FFA members and FFA Secretariat. Commencing from 1 July 2010 there is no fixed registration period and vessels are now registered for a one year term from the date of being issued the Certificate of Registration. The list of good standing vessels on the FFA Vessel Register now have different end dates for the period of Good Standing for different vessels as well as between fleets. This change has streamlined the registration process, and has improved the efficiency of the FFA Vessel Register operations. It has also provided the opportunity for vessel operators to register at a time that best suits their needs.

This vessel registration notification now follows FFA financial year, July 2011 to June 2012. All foreign fishing vessels wishing to obtain a national fishing licence from any FFA Member country must first register on the FFA Vessel Register and the WCPFC Record of Fishing vessels. The FFA Vessel Register procedures are additional to any National Registration and Licensing procedures required by FFA Member countries.

Since the FFA Vessel Registration period is no longer a fixed period and is one year from the date of registration, the vessel operators are reminded that the Purse Seine & Longline Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) register period is the calendar year ie 01-Jan-2011 to 31-Dec-2011. The operators of the Purse Seine & Longline vessels subject to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) VDS Management scheme will need to ensure that the vessels re-register on the FFA Vessel Register as the previous registrations expire during the 2011 calendar year. Similar checks will also need to be done for the MTU inspection certificate, fishing licence, flag state authorisation to fish etc.

For any further information on FFA Vessel Register procedures contact FFA at vessel.register@ffa.int. Vessel owners and operators are encouraged to read the Application Guidelines provided below.

Vessel Register Reports

FFA's list of vessels in good standing with current provisions is available below.

Type approval of units used with VMS

As of 1 May 2008 FFA has changed the specifications for the type approval of units used with the FFA Vessel Monitoring System. This document outlines the changes and defines how FFA will treat the units that were approved prior to the new specifications being approved.The new specifications have been produced as a result of changes in technology and changes in the way in which VMS is used now and into the future. The new specifications harmonise with other type approval specifications in use around the world.This means FFA can take advantage of changes in technology and simplifies the process for vendors applying for type approval in other jurisdictions. The new specifications is provided in the PDF documents below.

Changes to the Type Approval Specifications
The new specifications provide a more rigorous approach to type approval than had previously been the case. The new specifications also provide for the approval of terminals attached to units to allow for the cost effective transmission of catch data to FFA. In addition the specifications also apply to the Mobile Communications Service Provider (MCSP) to ensure the integrity and timeliness of the data transmitted to FFA from fishing vessels.

Operation Kurukuru

2009

Operation Kurukuru 2009, a coordinated maritime surveillance operation in which countries cooperate to detect activities such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, smuggling and people trafficking, was hosted by FFA over 10 days.

Operation Kurukuru 2009 resulted in 8 boardings of vessels and 1 apprehension of a vessel which has been escorted to port for further investigation. In Tuvalu, 1 vessel was fined USD $10,000 for misreporting of fishing catch. The 4 aircraft involved in the operation flew a total of 85 hours and covered approximately 800,000 square nautical miles.

Covering an area of approximately 10 million square kilometres - including the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu – Operation Kurukuru 2009 involved fisheries surveillance and enforcement staff from all of these countries working together with their counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, France and US over 10 days of surveillance.

Surveillance was conducted by individual countries within their respective EEZ’s using 7 Pacific Class Patrol Boats (from Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu) and 1 French Patrol Boat. This was supported by aerial surveillance provided by 4 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (2 P-3 Orions supplied by Australia & New Zealand, a Guardian supplied by France and a Hercules C-130 from the US Coast Guard).

This year Operation Kurukuru was hosted and coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) at its regional headquarters in Honiara, Solomon Islands. All countries had access to an FFA web-based map of surveillance flights, licensed vessels and unlicensed vessels, so individual countries were able to send out patrol boats where aerial surveillance had identified suspicious activities or vessels.

Outcomes include:
•    Tuvalu’s Patrol Boat boarded and fined a foreign fishing vessel for misreporting its catch.
•    Solomon Island’s Patrol Boat boarded and apprehended a foreign fishing vessel for a number of breaches.
•    The aerial surveillance effort identified a number of vessels apparently not complying with their FFA registration and licence conditions and are the subject of further investigation.

However the success of the Monitoring, Control and Surveillance effort by the FFA member countries and the United State and France in the region should not necessarily just be measured by the number of fishing vessels apprehended.  The reduction in the number of vessels conducting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing is a sure sign that the policing and other measures being taken are working.

Operation Kurukuru is an activity to meet the broader objectives of sustainable fisheries development and management in the Pacific region.  This annual operation held in the Eastern and Western FFA Member countries complements other operations held in the rest of the FFA member countries.

2008

Operation Kurukuru 2008, a coordinated maritime surveillance operation in which countries cooperate to detect activities such as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, smuggling and people trafficking, was hosted by the Solomon Islands in 2008.

500 people were actively involved in Operation Kurukuru 2008 which resulted in locating 300 foreign fishing vessels in the area of operations, 20 of which were considered worthy of further investigation after analysis. 30 days of patrol at sea were provided plus the four aircraft involved in the operation undertook 100 hours of aerial surveillance.

Covering an area of 10.6 million square kilometres - including the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu – Operation Kurukuru 2008 involved surveillance and law enforcement staff from all of these countries working together with their counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, France and US over 12 days of surveillance.

Surveillance was conducted by individual countries within their respective EEZ’s using 8 Pacific Class Patrol Boats (from Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga (2), Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu), 4 US Coast Guard Cutters and 1 French Frigate. This was supported by aerial surveillance provided by 4 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (2 P-3 Orions supplied by Australia & New Zealand, a Guardian supplied by France and a Hercules C-130 from the US Coast Guard). Operation Kurukuru 2008 was coordinated by a team based in the Solomon Islands Police Force Maritime Unit’s newly launched Operations Room, upgraded with funding from the Australian Defence Cooperation Program.

The Operations Room relies on access to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) E-Operations system which collects, displays and analyses aircraft and vessel movements over the entire operations area in an interactive display. By collating information from regional and national licence and suspected illegal fishing lists, the E-Operations system can identify and monitor suspicious vessels. Regional surveillance staff, trained by FFA in how to use the E-Operations system, then can prioritise their operations efforts, contact national staff and make decisions on where to allocate surveillance aircraft and patrol boats.

Operation Kurukuru 2008 also involved participation by United States Navy as an observer in the regional headquarters with a view to providing aircraft participation next year for the first time, signing of an enduring VMS data sharing agreement by Samoa with all other FFA members and a visit by Australian Defence Minister Hon Joel Fitzgibbon on 10 Sep to view the operation in progress. Operation Kurukuru is an activity to meet the broader objectives of sustainable development and regional security of The Pacific Plan.

Read staff stories of participation in Operation Kurukuru

Download photos of participation in Operation Kurukuru