Beneficiary: A natural or legal person with a current and up-to-date fishing license, who meets the conditions of this regulation and may obtain authorizations for the purchase of fuel at a competitive price.
Special Proxy (Apoderado especial): A natural or legal person authorized by the beneficiary, through a notarized special power of attorney (poder especial protocolizado), to carry out on their behalf the request, processing, and withdrawal of the authorization for the purchase of fuel at a competitive price.
FID: Hydrobiological Resources Landing Inspection Form (Formulario de Inspección de Desembarque de Recursos Hidrobiológicos).
Provisioning (Avituallamiento): The action and effect of supplying oneself with provisions and other inputs necessary to carry out the fishing operation.
Competent Authority: The Regulatory Authority for Public Services (ARESEP), the General Directorate of Transport and Commercialization of Fuels of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), the Tax Police (POLICIA FISCAL), the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE), the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the 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, the SCAC, the Directorates, Regional Offices, and Sub-Regional Offices of INCOPESCA.
Base of Operation: the area established in the fishing license for carrying out its commercial activities.
Catch: The total amount of hydrobiological resources landed within the national territory.
Fuel at a Competitive Price: This is regular gasoline and diesel fuel authorized by INCOPESCA, to be acquired at a differentiated price, which will be used in vessels with a current fishing license, for the execution of tourist or commercial fishing activities.
Fuel Committee: A working group created to implement the control and administration system for fuel at a competitive price, for the supervision and stipulation of necessary changes to the fuel regulation, as well as to prepare manuals and instructions for its correct application.
Reconciliation (Conciliación): To compare the liters of fuel authorized at a competitive price by INCOPESCA through consolidated purchase authorizations, with the liters sold by RECOPE for the same period.
Agreements (Convenios): Documents containing the different clauses expressing the conditions that the beneficiaries, Fishing Organizations, Special Proxies, and INCOPESCA must comply with in relation to the fuel granted at a competitive price.
Days of Absence: The period of time destined for the fishing trip from the vessel's departure from any port until its arrival at the same or another port after finishing its fishing voyage.
Conversion Factor: Corresponds to the value required to convert horsepower (Hp) to kilowatts (KW) of the vessel engines. This value is equal to 0.7457.
Multiplication Factor: The numerical value established for the different defined engine power ranges.
National Commercial Fishing Fleet: The set of national fishing vessels registered in the Public Property Registry and with a current fishing license.
Gulf of Nicoya: For the purposes of this Regulation, it is defined as:
Inner Zone: The area between the imaginary straight line extending from the westernmost end of the city of Puntarenas to the easternmost end of Punta Gigante on the Nicoya Peninsula, and from this line, inshore bordering the coast on both sides of the gulf, until reaching the imaginary straight line extending between Puerto Níspero and Puerto Moreno at the mouth of the Tempisque River.
Outer Zone: The area between the imaginary straight line extending from the westernmost end of the city of Puntarenas to the easternmost end of Punta Gigante on the Nicoya Peninsula, and from this line, offshore bordering the coast on both sides of the gulf, until reaching the imaginary straight line extending between Cabo Blanco and Punta Herradura.
INCOPESCA: Costa Rican Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Fishing Organization: These are groups of fishers legally organized for scientific purposes, for the promotion of fishing activity, for environmental protection, for charitable purposes, for recreation, and any other lawful purposes whose sole and exclusive object is not profit or gain.
It also includes, in addition to the specific Associations determined by the Law of Associations, trade associations, mutual aid associations, provident and employer associations, and limited liability cooperative associations, which possess legal personality and a legal identification number. Commercial companies determined by the Commercial Code are excluded from this concept.
Fishing Skipper or Captain: The person on board the vessel responsible for directing the fishing operations and navigation.
Artisanal Fishing: Fishing activity carried out in an artisanal manner by natural or legal persons in the case of associations, cooperatives, or others of a similar nature, with the use of a vessel, in continental waters or the coastal zone, and with autonomy to fish according to current legislation.
Commercial Fishing: Commercial fishing is carried out to obtain economic benefits and is classified as:
Small-scale: Fishing carried out personally by natural persons, without the use of a vessel, in continental waters or the coastal zone, or that practiced on board a vessel with autonomy to fish up to a maximum of three nautical miles of the Costa Rican territorial sea.
Medium-scale: Fishing carried out by natural or legal persons, on board a vessel with autonomy to fish up to a maximum of forty nautical miles.
Advanced: Fishing carried out, by mechanical means, by natural or legal persons, on board a vessel with autonomy to fish exceeding forty nautical miles, aimed at the capture of pelagic species with longline and other species of commercial importance.
Semi-industrial: Fishing carried out by natural or legal persons, on board vessels aimed at the extraction of shrimp with trawl nets, sardines and tuna with purse seine nets.
Industrial: Fishing and industrialization carried out by natural or legal persons, with vessels equipped to carry out on board fishing, freezing, packaging, and industrialization activities of their catches.
Tourist: Fishing activity carried out by national or foreign natural persons, with the purpose of capturing, with a personal fishing gear appropriate for the purpose, aquatic fishery resources in continental, jurisdictional waters or in the Exclusive Economic Zone, for commercial purposes and exclusively tourist purposes, carried out on a permanent basis.
Special Power of Attorney (Poder especial): A notarized public document by which the beneficiary authorizes a natural or legal person to carry out on their behalf the request, processing, and withdrawal of the authorization for the purchase of fuel at a competitive price.
Port: The place of departure or arrival of fishing vessels within the national scope.
RECOPE: Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery.
Signature Registry: A suitable document consigning the signatures of the natural or legal person beneficiary and the special proxies in accordance with the special powers of attorney granted.
Fuel Control and Administration Section (SCAC): The INCOPESCA department responsible for the Administration, Oversight, and Control of the efficient use of the recommended fuel at a competitive price.
Attributions, Obligations, and Responsibilities of the Fuel Control and Administration Section (SCAC)