Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Accommodation of Crews (Fishermen) Convention, 1966 (No. 126) - French Polynesia

The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report has not been received. It expects that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments initially made in 2012.

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope. Concerning the composition of the fishing fleet registered on the territory of French Polynesia, the Committee notes that it is composed of 1,467 vessels of between 6 and 8.5 metres in length; 167 vessels of 12 metres in length; and 101 tuna fishing boats of between 13.5 and 24 metres in length engaged in coastal or deep-sea fishing. The Committee recalls that, under Article 1(4) of the Convention, where length instead of tonnage is used as a parameter, the Convention does not apply in principle to boats of less than 24.4 metres in length, but the competent national authority may decide to extend the application of the Convention to boats of between 13.7 and 24.4 metres in length where it considers, after consultation with the fishing-vessel owners and fishers’ organizations, that this is reasonable and practicable. Consequently, in view of the composition of the abovementioned fishing fleet, the Committee understands that the Convention now has very little relevance for French Polynesia. However, in so far as certain vessels continue to be covered by Article 1(4) of the Convention, the Government is requested to refer to the direct request made by the Committee in relation to the application of the Convention by metropolitan France adopted in 2012.