Brussels, 17/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - Illegal fishing accounts for an estimated 15% of world catches, or between 11 and 26 million tonnes a year, and on Thursday 17 November the European Parliament (EP) called for international cooperation to be stepped up to put an end to this scourge which is putting fish stocks in danger. In adopting the report on illegal fishing by Isabella Lövin (Greens/EFA, Sweden) by 491 votes to 7, with 24 abstentions, the EP calls on the Commission and member states to cooperate with a view to the creation of a “European coastguard” to combat dangers at sea, such as terrorism, piracy, illegal fishing, trafficking and also marine pollution.
The EP urges the EU to press for the adoption of international legal instruments to halt the trade from illegal fishing. Among the new measures recommended by the EP are compulsory registration of fishing vessels above 10GT (gross tonnage), development of catch-documentation schemes, compulsory use of electronic vessel monitoring systems (VMS), exchange of information on vessels activities, import controls and an agreement on closing markets to illegally caught fish. MEPs would also like the EU to establish a register of fishing vessels authorised to fish and blacklist those that engage in illegal fishing. They also asked the Commission to examine the possibility of making aid from the EU's generalised preference system conditional on applicant countries' compliance with FAO and UN rules on illegal fishing. (LC/transl.rt)