Southern Pacific Tuna Corp

Southern Pacific Tuna Corp (SOPAC eller SPTC) grundades 2007 med David G. Burney som initiativtagare. Burney hade en bakgrund i politisk verksamhet och arbetade i många år för att få fram en internationell överenskommelse om tonfiskfisket i västra Stilla Havet. Han har i sammanhanget också varit en ledande företrädare för och talesperson för flera stora US-amerikanska tonfiskföretag som Bumble Bee Foods, Chicken of the Sea, och StarKist. SOPAC har sitt huvudkontor i San Diego, USA.

Det är lite oklart vem eller vilka som äger företaget, men bolagets fiskebåtar levererar tonfisk till de tre redan nämnda US-amerikanska företagen och ett företag i Taiwan, FCF Fishery Co. Enligt en del uppgifter är dessa fyra bolag också ägarna av SOPAC. Enligt andra uppgifter är det Thai Union som är delägare istället för Sunkist. Thai Union äger dock också Chicken of the Sea och i så fall blir Thai Union huvudägare i SOPAC. Dessa uppgifter om ägare förnekas dock av företrädare för SOPAC och flera av de bolag vars fiskebåtar SOPAC sköter:

J. Douglas Hines, describing himself as a partner and owner of Ocean Global, LLC and Sea Global, LLC, published a letter on the South Pacific Tuna Corporation (SPTC/SOPAC) website in response to our April 10 blog post detailing the numerous violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and FAD fishing closures SOPAC-managed vessels. Not mentioned in his letter is the fact that Mr. Hines was also the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and a board member of Bumble Bee until a few months ago, which for some might tend to shade a number of his other assertions.

In his letter, Mr. Hines asserts that Bumble Bee, Chicken of the Sea and others do not ”have anyownership or management relationship to the vessels.”  In our post from April 10, we cite two sources for this information, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega in a statement on the Floor of the House of Representatives and a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard and also Jose Munoz, the former CEO of Chicken of the Sea who, in his on-line resume, states that he ”served as lead consultant and interim CEO/CFO for start-up South Pacific Tuna Corporation, a high-seas tuna fishing joint venture project between 4 of the world’s largest seafood companies, Bumble Bee (USA), Chicken of the Sea (USA), Thai Union (Thailand), and FCF Fisheries (Taiwan).” If this is false, as Mr. Hines suggests, he should take it up with SPTC’s former CEO, who must have been terribly confused when he set up the ”joint venture.”

För det verkar som om SOPAC i huvudsak sköter andras båtar och inte äger egna.  Totalt handlar det om 14 snörpvadsbåtar för tonfiskefiske. Samtliga sysselsatta i västra Stilla Havet. En rad bolag med snarlika namn är formellt ägare till fiskebåtarna. Dessa företag har i kontor i San Diego tillsammans med SOPAC och ägarmässiga samband finns, men det är oklart hur dessa ser ut i sin helhet. J. Douglas Hines har varit styrelsemedlem i Bumble Bee under många år, och är chef i SOPAC. Chris Lischewski, ekonomichef i Bumble Bee har också varit eller är delägare i flera av de fiskebåtar eller i de företag som äger fiskebåtar som sköts av SOPAC.

Ocean Global Fisheries (ibland via systerbolag eller dotterbolag) äger Ocean Galaxy (1 517 bruttoton), Ocean Conquest (1 416), Ocean Encounter (1 517), Ocean Warrior (1 517), Ocean Expedition (1 416) och Ocean Challenger (1 517).  Sea Global äger Sea Honor (1 517), Sea Bounty (1 415), Sea Quest (1 416), Sea Defender (1 415), Sea Trader (1 416) och Sea Fox (1 517), Pacific Global äger Pacific Ranger (1 415) och Pacific Pride (1 416). Alla båtarna har formellt US-amerikansk flagg, men är egentligen hemmahörande på US-Amerikanska Samoa. Ett land som i praktiken är en US-amerikansk koloni. Flera av de mindre båtarna har tidigare ägts av FCF på Taiwan.

SOPAC (SPTC) och deras fiske har kritiserats flera gånger av olika miljörörelser och de har dömts för illegalt fiske:

An Administrative Law Judge handed down a decision on August 22, 2013, finding that the owner, operator and fishing master of the American Triumph had conducted six sets on or within one nautical mile of a fish aggregating device (FAD) and had deployed a FAD during the 2009 FAD closure, both of which are violations of the Act, resulting in a fine of $562,068.

In the second case, which consolidated five cases against the fishing vessels Ocean Encounter, Ocean Conquest, Sea Honor, Sea Quest and Pacific Ranger, the owners, operators and fishing masters were charged with five counts of setting their purse seine net on whales, which is a violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and ten counts of setting on or within one nautical mile of a FAD and two counts of deploying FADs during the 2009 FAD closure in violation of the WCPFCIA. In its decision issued August 23, the Court found all seventeen counts proven and assessed a civil penalty of $953,054.

[…]

In addition to the violations of the WCPFCIA, the second case involved five counts of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The Court’s decision importantly affirms the Agency’s position that intentionally setting a purse seine net on or around a marine mammal violates the MMPA. Respondents had asserted that the MMPA’s commercial fishing incidental take authorization allowed all “takes” of a marine mammal except for an intentional lethal take. A “take” is defined under the MMPA as harassing, hunting, capturing or killing, or attempting to do any of the same, to a marine mammal. The Court explicitly rejected the Respondents’ argument.

SOPAC/SPTAC har dessutom dömts för illegala anställningar och olaglig praktik kring personalfrågor:

The Coast Guard found that South Pacific Tuna Corporation’s vessels Ocean Conquest, Ocean Warrior, Sea Bounty, Sea Honor and Sea Quest had illegally used foreign personnel who did not possess the proper licenses.

The Coast Guard has recently published new policy guidance regarding manning and licensing requirements for the fleet.

“The Coast Guard is committed to ensuring that the manning laws of the United States are followed,” said Capt. Casey White, commander for Sector Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. “The chief mate and chief engineer are safety critical positions and must be filled by properly licensed personnel.”

The Coast Guard considers the Distant Water Tuna Fleet to be a high risk fleet. Between 2006 and 2014, there have been 19 fatalities on this type of vessel, giving it one of the highest fatality rates of any U.S. fishing fleet in the nation. All of the fatalities occurred while the vessels were operating within the Fourteenth Coast Guard District’s Area of Responsibility spanning 23.1 million square miles.

There are 40 tuna purse seine vessels within the U.S. flagged Distant Water Tuna Fleet. The South Pacific Tuna Corporation significantly recapitalized this fleet between 2003 and 2008, adding 14 Taiwanese-built purse seine vessels. These vessels are approximately 210 feet in length and typically have 30-35 people on board.

Av de bolag som har samband med SOPAC så ägs US-amerikanska Bumble Bee av det brittiska riskkapitalbolaget Lion Capital LLP, Chicken of the Sea ägs av Thai Union och StarKist ägs av Dongwon Industries, medan FCF är ett självständigt stort taiwanesiskt företag.

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Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om USA, Amerikanska Samoa, FCF Fishery Co, Bumble Bee Foods, Chicken of the Sea, StarKist, Dongwon, Thai Union Group, Dongwon Industries, SOPAC, SPTC, Southern Pacific Tuna Corp, Fiske, Ekonomi, Tonfisk