registrations to more easily do business and to obtain 

 assistance from their Government. 



Country selection: The primary Latin American 

 coimtries making flag-of-convenience registrations 

 include: Panama, Honduras, St. Vincent, and the 

 Caymans, but other countries also register smaller 

 numbers of vessels. Each of these countries decided 

 to offer flag-of-convenience registrations as an 

 income-generating activity. Some vessels owners 

 may have selected countries (Panama) with important 

 banking and communications hubs. Some countries 

 (the Caymans and Panama) have tight bank secrecy 

 laws. Otlier choices (the Caymans) offer stable 

 governments and dependable legal systems. One 

 country (Panama) even uses U.S. dollars, facilitating 

 financial dealings. 



Registrations increasing: The licensing of fishing 

 vessels in Latin America to obtain flag-of- 

 convenience registrations appears to have increased 

 significantly since 1986. Lloyd's data suggest that 

 the number of large fishing vessels registered in the 

 four countries increased from only 70 vessels in 1986 

 to 170 vessels in 1992, or by nearly 150 percent. 

 While the Lloyd's data give some idea of annual 

 trends, they probably under-estimate the actual 

 number of vessels involved. Some countries appear 

 to be changing their vessel registration policies. 

 Cayman officials modified their policy in 1989 and 

 no longer offer flag-of-convenience registrations to 

 foreign fishing vessels. Honduran officials are 

 currently assessing their policy. On balance, 

 however, the countries involved are registering an 

 increasing number of foreign-owned fishing vessels. 



Number of vessels: The number of large fisliing 

 vessels (500-GRT or greater) with Latin American 

 flag-of-convenience registrations probably totals about 

 250 vessels. A full estimate of the number of vessels 

 involved would have to include the nearly 750 

 medium-sized vessels (100 to 499-GRT) which have 

 also been registered in Latin America by foreign 

 owners. Some existing international vessel registries 

 appear to under-estimate significantly die number of 

 vessels involved. The authors estimate that a Latin 

 American flag-of-convenience fleet totals nearly 

 1,000 fishing vessels as of November 1993. 



Catch: Virtually no data exists on the catches 

 achieved by the flag-of-convenience vessels. Most 



fishermen do not report their catch to the country 

 where they are flagged or to international bodies. 

 The authors estimate that the large flag-of- 

 convenience vessels probably catch over 0.8 million 

 tons and the medium-sized flag-of convenience 

 vessels probably catch about 0.6 million tons 

 annually. This means that the total catch of the Latin 

 American flag-of-convenience vessels could total 1.4 

 million tons annually. This is a huge catch, but it 

 may understate the actual impact of these vessels. 

 Since disiant-water operations are expensive to 

 conduct, the fishermen involved target high-value 

 stocks, many of which are already heavily fished. 

 Focusing this massive effort on such stocks may be 

 having a major adverse impact on both national and 

 international management efforts. 



Owners: Many flag-of-convenience vessels are 

 owned by Taiwan companies or overseas Chinese 

 located in other countries. Taiwan owners have been 

 especially active in seeking flag-of-convenience 

 registrations. This is partly because many coastal 

 countries (especially India, Myamnar, and Sri Lanka) 

 recognize China and tlius refuse to grant fishing 

 licenses to Taiwan-flag vessels, or allow private 

 companies to sign joint venture or leasing contracts 

 permitting the operation of Taiwan-flag vessels. 

 Companies in a few countries (especially Korea, 

 Russia, and Spain) have also registered substantial 

 numbers of fishing vessels; about 15 oUier countries 

 register a smaller number of vessels. 



Deployment: Few reflagged vessels are deployed off 

 Latin America, but they have been observed on 

 virtually every important world fishing ground. In 

 most cases tlie vessels never transship their catch 

 through or call at die ports of the Latin American 

 country in which they are registered. 



Transfers: Some vessels are deployed widi die 

 knowledge and approval of the originating 

 government. Some officials may even encourage the 

 practice. In other cases, the originating government 

 is concerned over tliese reflaggings and has neither 

 approved the reflagging nor authorized the vessels to 

 conduct high-seas fisheries. Russian officials in 

 particular are troubled about die transfer of state- 

 owned fishing vessels to other countries. Tlie vessels 

 involved were the property of Russian state 

 companies, but at least some have apparently been 

 transferted widi little or no payment to the 



