- a)ARESEP: Public Services Regulatory Authority (Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos).
- b)Avituallamiento: Action and effect of provisioning with food and other necessary inputs to carry out the fishing operation.
- c)Competent Authority (Autoridad Competente): National Coast Guard Service, Delegates of the Public Force, Port Captaincies of the General Directorate of Maritime Transport of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Regional Directorates and Offices of INCOPESCA.
- d)Beneficiary (Beneficiario): Natural or legal person with a current commercial fishing license, who requests and receives fuel at a preferential price according to the provisions of this Regulation and whose entire catch from the fishing trips is landed in national territory.
- e)Catch (Captura): Quantity of hydrobiological resources landed by fishers on each fishing trip carried out on board a specific vessel.
- f)Fuel (Combustible): Refers to diesel and gasoline used in vessels with a current fishing license, for the execution of non-sport commercial fishing activities.
- g)Conciliation (Conciliación): Balancing the balances of liters of fuel authorized at a preferential price by INCOPESCA through purchase orders, with those liters sold by RECOPE for the same period.
- h)Contracts (Contratos): Documents containing the different clauses expressing the conditions to which the beneficiaries, the Fishing Organizations, and INCOPESCA are bound in relation to the fuel granted at a preferential price.
- i)Days of absence (Días de ausencia): The days elapsed from the departure of the vessel until its arrival at its base port of operation, as indicated in the respective Departure Clearance (Zarpe). A day of absence shall be considered one in which a vessel remains 12 or more hours outside a port in fishing activities to and from the fishing grounds, a provision that applies to vessels of the Medium Longline Fleet (Flota Palangrera Media) and Advanced Longline Fleet (Flota Palangrera Avanzada), as well as to vessels belonging to the Semi-Industrial Fleet (Flota Semi-Industrial). For the Small-Scale Artisanal Fleet (Flota Artesanal en Pequeña Escala), the day of absence shall be defined by a minimum of four hours outside the port of operation in fishing activities.
- j)National Fishing Fleet (Flota Pesquera Nacional): Vessels of national flag and registry owned by Costa Ricans or by foreigners with a current residence permit under any title, duly registered and accredited with INCOPESCA, that operate in strict adherence to the legal framework on fisheries matters and that are dedicated to the capture of hydrobiological resources from the sea for commercial purposes.
- k)Tuna Fleet (Flota Atunera): Vessels authorized for tuna fishing using Purse Seine Nets, Pole and Line, or Trolling in jurisdictional waters.
- l)Advanced Longline Fleet (Flota Palangrera Avanzada): Consisting of those vessels operating in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, with stationary engines, the gear used is the Longline with no length limit and Trolling; with a maximum of ninety days of fishing activity. Their main extraction is pelagic fish, tunas, sharks, and others.
- m)Medium Longline Fleet (Flota Palangrera Media): Consisting of those vessels operating in the jurisdictional waters of the Pacific Ocean except for the Gulf of Nicoya and the Caribbean Sea, with stationary engines, the gear used is the Trammel Net and the Longline with lengths ranging between 5 thousand and 15 thousand meters, and Trolling; with a maximum of sixty days of fishing activity. Their main extraction is finfish (pescado de escama), pelagic fish, sharks, and tunas.
- n)Semi-Industrial Fleet (Flota Semi-Industrial): Set of vessels dedicated to the capture of shrimp and sardine in jurisdictional waters of the Pacific Ocean, by means of Bottom Trawl Nets according to regulations and Purse Seine Nets respectively, using stationary engines.
- o)Artisanal Fleet (Flota Artesanal): Defined as that set of vessels dedicated to commercial fishing and separated into two subgroups according to the following criteria:
- Small-Scale Artisanal (Artesanal Pequeña Escala) (TYPE 1): Consisting of those vessels whose fishing is carried out daily and personally by the permit holder or by a relative up to the third degree of consanguinity. Said vessels are operated with a stationary engine or an outboard engine, whose power is less than or equal to 40 Hp for the purpose of recognizing fuel at a preferential price, and as fishing gear they use the Trammel Net, Handline, Longline, and the Beach Seine Net for bait, the latter exclusively in the inner part of the Gulf of Nicoya. Their fishing target is finfish (pescado de escama) and shrimp.
- Small-Scale Artisanal (Artesanal Pequeña Escala) (TYPE 2): Consisting of those vessels operating in the jurisdictional waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Fishing is carried out personally by the permit holder or by a relative up to the third degree of consanguinity, with a stationary engine or an outboard engine, whose power is less than or equal to 65 Hp for the purpose of recognizing fuel at a preferential price, and as fishing gear they use the Trammel Net, Handline, Longline, Artisanal Trawl Net, and Traps; the fishing period ranges between one and five days. Their main extraction is finfish (pescado de escama), shrimp, sharks, pelagic fish, tunas, lobster, octopus, and others.
- p)Gulf of Nicoya (Golfo de Nicoya): Area comprised between an imaginary straight line running from Cabo Blanco to Punta Herradura and from there inland waters to the mouth of the Río Tempisque.
- q)INCOPESCA: Costa Rican Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuacultura).
- r)Fuel Control and Administration Section (Sección de Control y Administración de Combustible, SCAC): Unit of INCOPESCA in charge of the Administration, Oversight, and Control of the efficient use of fuel recommended at a preferential price.
- s)Organizations (Organizaciones): Associations, cooperatives, companies, and any other type of Organizations with current legal status.
- t)Base port of operation (Puerto base de operación): Port chosen by the permit holder to regularly provision their vessel.
- u)RECOPE: Costa Rican Oil Refinery (Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo).
- v)Conversion factor (Factor de conversión): Corresponds to the value required to convert horsepower (Hp) to kilowatts (Kw) of both inboard and outboard engines. Said conversion factor is equal to 0.74 (FAO, 1988).