A leading environmentalist MEP has claimed that short-term economic gain and political priorities take precedence over the marine environment when it comes to taking action against illegal fishing.
On November 15, the European Commission notified third countries that it considers as potentially being non-cooperative when it comes to establishing a community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. It is a move applauded by Raül Romeva i Rueda, vice president of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.
"Everybody agrees that illegal fishing must be fought against and eradicated but they all insist that it is always somebody else's fault," he wrote in a recent issue of PublicServiceEurope.com.
"If even illegal fishing cannot be stopped, how can fishing be managed sustainably? Therefore, is the commission's move good news? Yes. Is this enough to end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing? I am afraid not. After a long and thorough process eight countries have been notified that they are failing to combat IUU fishing. They are Belize, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Guinea, the Republic of Panama, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the Togolese Republic and the Republic of Vanuatu."
However, he points out there is now a delay of six months for consultations and agreement upon specific tailored action plans that have been proposed by the commission.
"Should any of these countries fail to take corrective actions and be formally identified by the EU Council of Ministers, said Romeva, "then they would be formally 'black-listed'. And a series of sanctions would apply including but not limited to a ban on imports of their fish products.
"The regulation's main objective is to combat IUU fishing globally and includes European Union-flagged and EU-owned vessels which have been reflagged to avoid EU rules. It is designed to complement the control regulation that already covers member states.
"And there has been strong resistance to the publication of this list by the commission, for the economic interests that certain member states defend are not limited to fishing vessels or even other fisheries-type investments."
In particular, he points out that the decision was approved by all member states of the EU except for the UK, which abstained because of opposition to the notification of Belize. The Belize shipping register is run from the UK.
"The IUU regulation is up for review soon, and there will be a lot of pressure from various corners – EU and non-EU – to seriously weaken it. So the commission deserves considerable recognition for having the determination to initiate this procedure, which is unique in the world. The commission is also expected to update its list of vessels involved in IUU fishing. We look forward to it."
Read the full article at www.publicserviceeurope.com