Fishing about and about fishing
THE LAWLESS OCEANS
I still have to meet a fisherman who’s totally innocent of poaching. Some are saying that there’s a poaching strain in the genes of every fisherman (and hunter), others must go poaching to make a living. But nowadays, illegal, unreported and unregulated or "pirate" fishing (IUU) has become a hot issue. FAO, the U.K., Australian and some other governments, the U.S. Natl. Science Foundation, NOAA Fisheries, the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, and several major NGOs are saying that IUU is harming the world fishery industry and regulated fish stocks, as well as endangered fish species and other marine life. In some of the world’s poorest countries, coastal populations dependent on fisheries for food and livelihoods, are evidently those who suffer most.
Two years ago, the Prince of Wales told a meeting of water birds watchers: “…the problem of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing appears to be getting worse. There are believed to be more than a thousand of these substantial pirate vessels, operating under ‘flags of convenience’, recognizing no rules and – with few exceptions – evading every sort of sanction and penalty available under international law”. How right he was.
In the window, below, are some figures compiled from FAO, British, and other data sources that illustrate the extent of the problem.
IUU fishing is taking 30 percent of total catches in many important fisheries.
*The value of IUU catches is estimated between US$2.4 and US$9 billion per year.
*It took yearly about 100,000 mt of cod and haddock between 2004 and 2006 in the Northern Atlantic and the Barents Sea, valued at US$150 million.
*Between 2000 and 2003, for example, it took some 40% of the cod catch in the Baltic Sea and 33% of the southern bluefin tuna in southern oceans.
*IUU is taking half of the fish caught off sub-Saharan Africa, valued at over US$880 million.
*Somalia loses fish worth US$88 million a year to some 700 IUU vessels and Guinea-Conakry over 34,000 tonnes of fish worth US$110 million.
A report sponsored by the Australian Government, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and World Wildlife Fund reveals the link between IUU and countries, which offer cheaply flags of convenience (FOC), to poaching vessels owned by expatriates.
Altogether, approximately 15 percent of the world's large-scale fishing fleet (over 1,000 large fishing vessels) are flying either FOC or unknown flags. EU’s former Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler, called IUU/FOC “the scourge of today's maritime world".
Most FOC countries are not a part to regional fisheries management organizations (RFMO) or other international agreements. FOC vessels circumvent management and conservation measures while avoiding penalties, saving on taxes, licence costs and regulations, taken by coastal countries and international bodies. They fish without onboard observers, monitoring and catch documentation. Their badly paid crews are often maltreated, including forced labor and the abandonent of crews in foreign ports, and even cheated out of their earnings. It’s extremely difficult to catch and punish unscrupulous owners of FOC ships.
"IUU fishing continues to plague the high sas in the Southern Ocean," said Senator Ian Macdonald, Australia's minister in charge of fisheries, whose country boasts strong marine enforcement. "FOC countries and illegal fishermen reap the benefits and blatantly undermine the international rules designed to ensure conservation and management of high seas resources" – he said. “We must make the war on illegal fishing a priority” – said Ben Bradshaw, the UK Marine and Fisheries Minister to a recent meeting of the Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands.
The majority of FOC vessels are owned by companies registered in the following states: Taiwan, Spain, Panama, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, and Equatorial Guinea. Reportedly, FOC are available in Vanuatu, Comoros, St.Vincent and Grenadines, Panama, Malta, Jamaica, Georgia, Dominica, Cyprus, Belize, Liberia, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Netherlands Antilles,
St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, and even such land-locked countries, as Slovakia and Mongolia. It’s easy to register under a FOC, re-flag and change names ("flag hopping”) several times in a season to confuse management and surveillance authorities. It can be done even on Internet.
The rising price of fish lures poachers. Fleets, from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe land illegally caught fish in Japan, the United States, Europe and south-east Asia. Japanese sashimi market, which pays tens of thousands of dollars for single bluefin tuna, offers massive incentives for IUU-practicing companies, some of which land tuna also for the European market. Fleets, from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe land illegally caught fish in Japan, the United States, Europe and south-east Asia. Japanese sashimi market, which pays tens of thousands of Dollars for single bluefin tuna, offers massive incentives for IUU-practicing companies, some of which land tuna also for the European market.
Many of the IUU-vessels belong to such EU-member countries, as: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Irish Republic, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom and British Crown Dependencies. But, Spain/Canary Islands, where Las Palmas is a notorious gateway for illegally caught fish to the EU market, are unquestionably the “champion”. Also, much of the illegal catches are imported into the lucrative US market.
Law-abiding fishermen may suffer as IUU-fish flood the market, driving their catch value down. IUU fishing causes excessive extraction of fish from regulated stocks, which forces regulators to limit effort and fish quotas even more. However, establishing fisheries governance on the high seas, where access is open to all nations, is a tall order. In international waters, fishing is regulated by RFMOs. But as long as FOC-practicing RFMOs members are not dealt with, FOCs themselves are not forbidden by international and national legislation, and offenses appropriately punished, there’s very little that management-conscious countries can do.
Altogether, the world’s fishing industry must recognize it’s paying excessive price and for once this is an issue, where it can join forces with environmental organisations and governments in bringing down at least the most offensive and blatant IUU.