What you need to perform it
Primary qualification
- Commercial helicopter pilot licence CPL(H) under EASA Part-FCL (Regulation (EU) 1178/2011), issued in Spain by AESA, with the embarked aircraft’s type rating; many fleets operate with third-country registrations and licences — verify the flag and air operator regime.
- Valid Class 1 aviation medical certificate (EASA Part-MED).
- Usual aircraft: light single-turbine spotting types (MD 500 or Airbus H125 families — as a guide, owner-dependent).
Basic STCW
- As embarked personnel, Basic Safety Training (A-VI/1 / Spanish Order FOM/2296/2002) and a pre-embarkation medical per flag — the pilot’s exact place on the crew list varies by flag (verify).
Specific courses
- HUET — helicopter underwater escape training, ideally with emergency breathing system (EBS), at an approved centre (OPITO-type schemes — as a guide).
- Overwater operations and moving-deck landings; helideck design and operations reference: CAP 437 (as a guide).
- Fish-spotting technique: reading schools, birds and FADs, and set-guidance phraseology with the fishing master.
- Line maintenance and onboard fuel management; a highly valued profile: pilot-mechanic with a maintenance licence (as a guide).
Indicative experience
As a guide: 500-1,000 total helicopter hours with prior overwater experience before the first embarked contract, plus supervised adaptation to deck landings. On campaign, several short spotting cycles are flown daily; the typical contract follows the trip (1-3 months) and the pilot is usually the only aviator on board, without external technical support.
Observations
An aviation profile inside the fishing organisation: reports to the Fishing Master (see profile) and lives within the framework of regional fisheries management organisations — some RFMOs restrict or ban aerial means in phases of the fishery (e.g. over FADs or during closures) and rules change by ocean and season (verify per fishery: IATTC, ICCAT, IOTC, WCPFC). Hard operating limits: daytime VFR, weather and fuel set the useful radius, and the no-fly decision belongs to the pilot even with the school in sight. Operating under a foreign registration with aviation oversight thousands of miles from the registry is the trade’s classic grey zone (as a guide).
What this role does
Many freezer purse seiners carry their own helicopter: the pilot is the ship’s eyes, able to tell schools, currents and objects from the air that are invisible from deck. It is commercial aviation transplanted to sea: a professional licence, a light aircraft and a runway that pitches and rolls. The pilot lives on the ship’s calendar — campaigns of weeks or months — and their value is measured in productive sets. Operations are further constrained by the fishery’s rules: regional fisheries bodies regulate the use of aerial means and seasonal closures.
Typical watches
- Reconnaissance flights during daylight hours in repeated short cycles; aircraft maintenance and availability between flights
Key responsibilities
- Overfly the fishing grounds searching for tuna schools, birds, associated cetaceans and floating objects/FADs, in coordination with the fishing master.
- Radio the school’s position, heading, estimated size and behaviour, and guide the purse-seine set from the air.
- Operate from the ship’s deck: landing and take-off on a moving platform, aircraft lashing and coordination with the deck team.
- Carry out or supervise line maintenance of the embarked helicopter and manage JET A-1 fuel on board (storage and refuelling).
- Support emergencies: medical evacuation to shore when range allows and search for crew overboard.
Operational scope
- The embarked helicopter and the seiner’s flight deck
- The fishing grounds within a radius limited by fuel and weather
- Radio with the bridge and the fishing master
Profile reviewed by HydroAbyss (2026). Cited rules and timeframes are indicative: the final requirement is set by the flag State, the Administration and each company.