Brussels, 06/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On November, European Commissioner for Fisheries Maria Damanaki brandished the threat of commercial sanctions against Belize, Cambodia and Guinea-Conakry, for failing to tackle illegal fishing.
The commissioner announced that she was to propose that the Council identify these countries as uncooperative in the fight against illegal fishing, at a conference in Brussels on illegal fishing. If the ministers agree to include the three on a blacklist, this will lead to the European market being closed to “all fishery products caught by vessels of these countries”, she warned. “Bilateral fisheries agreements or partnerships with any of these countries will be out of the question” as well, she added.
In order to fight illegal fishing, the Commission is focusing its immediate efforts on coastal states and flag issuers. With a view to the creation of a blacklist, eight countries were put on warning a year ago, but five (Fiji, Togo, Sri Lanka, Panama and Vanuatu) have since made “credible progress” in the fight against illegal fishing. The Commission then decided to give them more time, pending a further assessment in March of this year. Damanaki announced that the countries had shown goodwill by adopting new legislation, and that they had improved control and inspection capacities. “Regrettably, the same does not apply to the other three countries concerned: Belize, Cambodia and Guinea (…). This leaves me with no other choice but to move onto the next phase”, she stressed.
The Commission is also publishing a blacklist of vessels accused of illegal fishing across the waters of the globe, the latest version of which contain 66 vessels. The NGO Greenpeace says that at least 10 of the vessels have links to European owners who are repeat offenders. The vessels highlighted as pirate vessels, all of which in this case are registered outside the EU, may not sell their catch in the EU. The backdrop to this is that 65% of all fish eaten by Europeans are imported from third countries. (LC/transl.fl)