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Verifact's Commitment to Sustainable Fisheries: A Closer Look at Irish Fishery Improvement Projects - image

Wednesday 12th June 2024

Verifact's Commitment to Sustainable Fisheries: A Closer Look at Irish Fishery Improvement Projects

With World Oceans Day having been this past weekend, June 8th, we are reminded of the importance of sustainability in fisheries. Verifact are working hard to ensure that we achieve this for Irish fisheries through our work on Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs).

FIPs involve all sectors of the supply chain; catchers, processors and retailers, in a partnership to put fisheries on the right path. Following an independent assessment, a fishery workplan is developed to address any sustainability issues identified. This workplan usually covers a 5-year period and progress is independently verified by an external body such as Fishery Progress (www.fisheryprogress.org).

Verifact are the co-coordinators of several Irish FIPs which are funded by the state fisheries board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM). At Verifact, we aim to take a balanced approach to achieving sustainability, centred on ensuring that actions taken are both meaningful and supported by the fishing industry.

A good example of fishery improvement can be seen with the Irish Albacore Tuna FIP. FIPs look at 3 core elements: the health of the fish stock itself, the fishery's wider environmental impact, and its management. In the case of the Irish Albacore Tuna FIP the stock is in excellent health - the highest since the 1960's, and the management plan for the fishery has been independently assessed as being sustainable and robust. The one gap the FIP had in terms of demonstrating sustainability was the availability of bycatch data for the fishery. We worked with the Marine Institute and BIM to place a trained, independent observer on tuna vessels to collect the necessary data in accordance with scientific protocols. This has been done for the past 4 years and last year tuna skippers also participated in a sampling at sea program to further back up the observer data. This work means that the Irish Albacore Tuna fishery is verifiably sustainable and can access the most demanding and valuable markets.

Information on all the Irish FIPs can be found at www.fip.ie.

Privacy Notice

The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the data relating to you that we collect and use in connection with this website and the uses (including disclosures to third parties) we make of such data.

General statement

We are Marine Applications Limited T/A Verifact (the “Verifact”, “we”, “us”, “our”) having its registered office at Providence House, Unit H1, South Link Business Park, Cork, T12 CK77.

We take our responsibilities under applicable data protection law, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation and implementing legislation such as the Data Protection Act 2018, very seriously. The purpose of this notice is to inform you of the data relating to you that we collect and use in connection with this website and the uses (including disclosures to third parties) we make of such data.

We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of any linked sites. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such. Some technical terms used in this statement are explained at the end of this page.

If you have any questions about our use of your personal data, please contact info@vfact.com.

Collection and use of personal information

Verifact does not collect any personal data about you on this website, apart from information which you volunteer (for example by emailing us, using our online feedback form or by making a purchase or event booking). This personal data may include:

your name and contact details, including your address, phone number and email address;
any other personal data relating to you that you provide to us or that we generate about you in connection with your use of this website.

Collection and use of technical information

When you visit our website, the following information is retained about that visit:

the IP address of the visitor’s web server;
the top-level domain name used (for example .ie, .com, .org, .net);
the previous website address from which the visitor reached us, including any search terms used;
Google analytics which shows the traffic of visitors around this web site (for example pages accessed and documents downloaded);
the type of web browser and operating system used by the website visitor.

Verifact will make no attempt to identify individual visitors, or to associate the technical details listed above with any individual. It is the policy of Verifact never to disclose such technical information in respect of individual website visitors to any third party (apart from our internet service provider, which records such data on our behalf and which is bound by confidentiality provisions in this regard), unless obliged to disclose such information by law. The technical information will be used only by Verifact, and only for statistical and other administrative purposes.

Purposes of processing and legal basis

We will use personal data relating to you for the purposes of:

dealing with any queries that you have submitted to us via the website;
processing applications and transactions submitted through the website;
improving and developing this website;
carrying out research and user surveys;
sending you promotional and marketing materials, subject to any preferences that you express when we collect your contact details or subsequently. You can opt out of receiving promotional and marketing materials from us at any time by contacting info@vfact.com;
generating and analysing statistics regarding usage of this website, including the frequency of use of individual pages (where possible, personal data will be anonymised before being used for this purpose);
fraud prevention, investigation and detection;
establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

The legal bases on which we process your personal data are that this is necessary for:

our legitimate interests in conducting our business in ensuring the proper management and functioning of Verifact. We will not process your personal data for these purposes if to do so would constitute an unwarranted interference with your own interests, rights and freedoms
compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that applies to us; and
the performance of a contract with you or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.

Facebook Conversion Tracking Pixel

We may from time to time use Facebook Advertising, Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing, and communications. This tool allows us to understand and deliver ads and make them more relevant to you. The collected data remains anonymous and we cannot see the personal data of any individual user.

However, the collected data is saved and processed by Facebook. Facebook may be able to connect the data with your Facebook account and use the data for their own advertising purposes (in accordance with Facebook’s Data Use Policy). Facebook has ultimate control of the information gathered through Facebook Advertising, Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing, and communications. You can opt out of Facebook’s use of cookies and Facebook Pixel Re-Marketing through settings on your Facebook Account.

Recipients of Personal Data

We may disclose your personal data to other organisations in connection with the above purposes, including:

to third parties who we engage to provide services to us in connection with this website, such as outsourced service providers, IT services providers, professional advisers and auditors;
to competent regulatory authorities and bodies as requested or required by law; and
digital marketing and analytics service providers.

Retention

We will not hold your personal data for longer than is necessary. We retain your personal data for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this Notice, or to comply with our obligations under applicable law and, if relevant, to deal with any claim or dispute that might arise between you and us.

Requirement to provide personal data

You are not under a statutory or contractual obligation to provide us with any personal data. However, where you submit a query to us in the ‘Contact Us’ section of our website or submit a form such as registration for an account on our website or to sign up for one of our newsletters, we will ask you to provide certain information, such as your name and email address. If you do not provide this information, we may not be in a position to process your request.

Your rights

You have the following rights, in certain circumstances and subject to certain restrictions, in relation to your personal data:

Right to access the data - You have the right to request a copy of the personal data that we hold about you, together with other information about our processing of that personal data.
Right to rectification - You have the right to request that any inaccurate data that is held about you is corrected, or if we have incomplete information you may request that we update the information such that it is complete.
Right to erasure - You have the right to request us to delete personal data that we hold about you. This is sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten.
Right to restriction of processing or to object to processing - You have the right to request that we no longer process your personal data for particular purposes, or to object to our processing of your personal data for particular purposes.
Right to data portability - You have the right to request us to provide you, or a third party, with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used machine readable format.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact info@vfact.com.

Updates

We may occasionally update this policy. We encourage you to periodically review this policy for the latest information on our privacy practices.

Queries and Complaints

If you have any queries or complaints in connection with our processing of your personal data, you can contact us at info@vfact.com

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission if you are not happy with the way we have used your information or addressed your rights. Details of how to lodge a complaint can be found at on the Data Protection Commissioner website or call the Data Protection Commissioner at 353 (0)761 104 800.

Glossary of technical terms used

Web browser: The piece of software you use to read web pages. Examples are Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera.

IP address: The identifying details for your computer, or your internet company’s computer, expressed in "internet protocol" code (for example 192.168.72.34). Every computer connected to the web has a unique IP address, although the address may not be the same every time a connection is made.

Cookies

The site does not utilise any cookies.

Verifact Terms & Conditions

Please read the following terms and conditions carefully. These terms and conditions (together with the documents that they refer to) set out the basis upon which you are entitled to access and use the website www.vfact.com (the Site)

By using the Site, you confirm that you accept the terms and conditions and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree with these terms and conditions, you must not use the website.

Other Applicable Terms

These Terms and Conditions refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of the Site:

Our Privacy Notice, which sets out the terms on which we process any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us. By using the Site, you consent to such processing, and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

Information about us

We are the Marine Applications Limited T/A Verifact having its registered office at Providence House, Unit H1, South Link Business Park, Cork, T12 CK77.

Use of site

Using the site for the purposes of accessing information in relation to your purchase is permitted.

The Site or any portion of the Site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose that is not expressly permitted by us.

You must not misuse the Site by knowingly or recklessly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, the server on which the Site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Site. You must not attack the Site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

We reserve the right to refuse access to the Site and/or the services contained herein in our discretion, including, without limitation, if we believe that particular conduct violates applicable law, is harmful to our interests or is in breach of these Terms and Conditions.

Intellectual Property

All content included, such as, text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips and software on the Site ("Content") is our property or the property of our suppliers and/or licensors (unless expressly indicated otherwise) and is protected by applicable copyright and/or other intellectual property laws.

All trademarks displayed on the Site are trademarks of the Marine Applications Ltd or their respective owners. Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting any license or right of use of any trademark displayed on the Site without the express written permission of Marine Applications Ltd or third party owner.

You must not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, frame, upload to a third party, post, transmit or distribute this Content in any way except as expressly provided for on the Site or expressly authorised in writing by Marine Applications Ltd. Strictly on the condition that you keep all Content intact and in the same form as presented on the Site (including without limitation all copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices and all advertisements), you may:

using an industry-standard Web browser, download and view the Content for your personal, non-commercial use, or
if you are an Internet service and/or access provider, supply the Content to your subscriber.

You must not use the Site in any manner or for any purpose which is unlawful or in any manner which violates any right of the Marine Applications Ltd. or which is prohibited by the Terms and Conditions.

Links to other websites

The Site contains hyperlinks and other pointers to Internet web sites operated by third parties. These linked web sites are not under the control of the Marine Applications Ltd. and Marine Applications Ltd. is not responsible for the contents of any linked web site or any hyperlink contained in a linked website. We provide these hyperlinks to you as a convenience only, and the inclusion of any link does not imply any endorsement of the linked web site by the Marine Applications Ltd.

Linking to the Site

You may link to the home page of the Site, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link to the Site in any website that is not owned by you. The Site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of the Site other than the home page. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.

If you wish to make any use of content on the Site other than that set out above, please contact info@vfact.com

Limitation of liability

We will make all reasonable effort to ensure that the Site is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. However, electronic services are subject to interruption or breakdown. You hereby acknowledge and agree that the Site is available for use ‘as is’ and ‘as available’, with no warranties of any kind whatsoever and that, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, we make no warranty regarding, and shall have no responsibility for, the accuracy, availability, reliability, security, fitness for purpose or performance of the Site or the contents thereof.

You acknowledge and agree that we may temporarily suspend access to the Site for any reason without notice, including but not limited to where there is a breakdown, error, defect or malfunction of any part of the Site.

Except as expressly set out in these Terms and Conditions, all representations, warranties, terms and conditions whether express or implied in relation to the Site or the information contained herein are hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Due to the fact that we cannot guarantee that the Website will be fault free or that the information contained on the Website will be correct, you agree that we shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the Site or the contents thereof, whether under theories of contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise.

You expressly acknowledge and agree that the Marine Applications Ltd. does not exert control over users of the Site (including individuals referred to on the Site as guests and experts) and is not liable either for their opinions or their behaviour including any information and/or advice and any defamatory statements or offensive conduct.

Variations

The Marine Applications Ltd. reserves the right to amend the Terms and Conditions at any time. Since you are bound by these Terms and Conditions, you should periodically refer to them in this document and elsewhere on the Site. The Site will specify the latest date on which the Terms and Conditions have been amended.

Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Ireland and you hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. If any provision of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of law, such invalidity or unenforceability will not affect the remainder of the agreement, which will continue in full force and effect.