27 May 2025
On Saturday, 26 April 2025 at approximately 07:30, the Spanish-flagged fishing vessel, Madre Josefa Uno arrived in St Helena port with a crew member requiring medical attention.
In line with their responsibility to protect St Helena’s Marine Protected Area (MPA), the Marine Compliance and Enforcement Section (MC&ES) used this visit as an opportunity to test the procedure to ensure the vessel’s activities adhered to St Helena’s MPA requirements.
The vessel was tracked through St Helena’s MPA using Automatic Identification System (AIS), having previously been monitored via satellite surveillance by Blue Belt (BB) through the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). This ongoing surveillance aims to detect any irregular activity within the MPA.
Tracking data showed that the vessel entered the MPA on 25 April 2025 from the east-southeast and departed northbound on 28 April 2025. There were no signs of the vessel stopping or engaging in fishing activity as speed and AIS signals remained consistent throughout. This travel pattern suggested that no fishing gear was deployed, as retrieval would have required the vessel to return along the same route.
To confirm these observations, MC&ES personnel led by Marine Enforcement Officer (MEO) Kelly Jonas, accompanied by Marine Compliance and Enforcement Officer (MC&EO) Peter Young, conducted an informal inspection of the vessel. . During the inspection, the captain of Madre Josefa Uno reported that the vessel had ceased fishing activities on 22 April 2025, whilst operating within the 400m buffer zone of the island. The MEO reviewed the vessel’s fishing logs, which had previously been submitted to the Spanish authorities, confirming that fishing operations concluded on that date with the logs were formally closed upon the vessel’s entry into St Helena’s MPA on 25 April 2025.
The fishing gear and equipment on board the vessel was inspected and found to be dry, indicating it had not been used during the vessels time in St Helena waters. This conclusion was further evidenced by the fishing hold containing only bait and previously caught frozen swordfish, blue shark, and oil fish.
The MC&ES continues to monitor the vessel since leaving St Helena and up to 27 May 2025 tracking data shows that the vessel remains in the northern area of the island approximately 74NM outside of St Helena’s MPA.
#StHelena #MarineProtectedArea #MarineComplianceandEnforcement
SHG
27 May 2025