ROME, 30 July 2015 (UN News Service): Thirteen additional countries need to ratify an agreement brokered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to combat illegal fishing by blocking ports to ships known or believed to be carrying illicit (ulovlige) catches that account for more than 15 per cent of global output, the agency said Thursday.
Illicit fishing, according to the UN agricultural agency, includes operating without authorization, harvesting protected species, using outlawed fishing gear and violating quota limits, and “may account for up to 26 million tonnes of seafood a year, more than 15 percent of the total global output.”
Besides economic damage, it poses risks to local biodiversity and food security in many countries.
“Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip between 10 billion and 23 billion US dollar (60 til 78 milliarder DKR) from the global economy, and its impacts undermines the way fish stocks are managed to make it a double concern around the world,” FAO said.
25 lande må med
To help tackle the problem, FAO brokered the adoption in 2009 by its Member States of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
The FAO-brokered agreement comes into force when 25 countries have deposited their instrument of ratification, known as acceptance of accession.
So far, 12 countries have done so, the latest being Iceland in June. Two more states will soon join them, according to FAO.
In addition to Iceland, signatories that have completed the ratification process are Burma, Chile, the European Union, Gabon, Iceland, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, the Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Uruguay.
Rammer rovfiskerne på pengepungen
“The Agreement promotes collaboration between fishermen, port authorities, coast guards and navies to strengthen inspections and control procedures at ports and on vessels,” FAO said, adding:
“Importantly, it also allows states to prevent the landings of catches derived from IUU fishing by vessels regardless of the flag they fly.”
Blaise Kuemlangan, Chief of FAO’s Development Law Service, said “the Agreement aims to harmonize port controls in order to prevent illegally caught fish from ever entering international markets through ports.”
The ability to turn away vessels taking take part in illegal fishing will greatly reduce opportunities for selling their catch, decreasing illicit fishing worldwide, according to Mr. Kuemlangan.
“Viljen er der, men landene mangler midlerne”
The Agreement will also enable better compliance with the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which seeks to promote the long-term sustainability of the sector.
Ratification of the treaty requires countries to designate ports that foreign vessels can use and to block entry to ships known or believed to have been involved in IUU, as well as share information with other governments of vessels discovered to be carrying an IUU catch.
“Many countries in the (African) region have the will to address IUU fishing, but require the most cost-effective tools and an understanding about how these can be implemented at the legal, policy and institutional level,” said Remi Nono Womdim, FAO Representative, at a meeting in Cabo Verde.
To assist countries in building their capacity to implement the agreement, FAO has convened workshops in all world regions, with the Atlantic coast of Africa being “a key priority,” the agency said.
FAO said so far Gabon is the only African country to have ratified the Agreement, but several others are close to completing the process.
