Brussels, 24/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 24 March, the Council of the EU decided to add Belize, Cambodia and Guinea-Conakry to the list of countries which are not sufficiently active in the fight against illegal fishing (EUROPE 11044). “After several warnings, measures will now come into effect against the three countries to tackle the commercial benefits stemming from illegal fishing”, the European Commission commented.
Under the decision adopted, it will no longer be permitted to import any fishing product caught by vessels from these three countries into the European Union. In addition, EU vessels will not be authorised to fish in their waters. “It is the first time that measures of this type are adopted at EU level”, the Commission points out. Additionally, other forms of cooperation, such as joint fishing operations or fishing agreements with these countries, will no longer be possible either.
Maria Damanaki, European Commissioner for Fisheries, said that “these decisions are historic”. “They demonstrate that the EU is leading by example in the fight against illegal fishing”, she added. She hopes that this inclusion on the blacklist will encourage Belize, Cambodia and Guinea to “step up their efforts and work with the international community to eliminate illegal fishing”.
Fiji, Panama, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu were also officially warned in 2012. The corrective measures taken by these countries are being constantly monitored in the framework of bilateral dialogue, and a situation report is expected shortly. Additionally, Korea, Ghana and Curaçao were put on formal notice in November 2013. The EU is continuing dialogue with the three countries deemed to be failing to cooperate.
Regulation 1005/2008 brings in a Community system designed to prevent, discourage and eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The approach adopted by the EU indicates that fishing of this kind constitutes criminal activity at global level, which harms not only the EU fishing community, but also local populations in the developing countries.
NGOs applaud move. In a joint press release, four NGOs (Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF) welcomed the Council's decision to bring in commercial restrictions against these three countries. However, the NGOs are calling for “greater transparency” in the way the EU evaluates third countries' efforts to fight illegal fishing. They also urge the European Commission to close a loophole that allows non-EU vessels fishing in the banned countries' waters to “continue exporting their catches to the EU”. The NGOs call on the Commission to work with the member states of the EU to step up efforts to prevent illegally caught fish from ending up on the plates of European consumers. According to the NGOs, IUU fishing is estimated to cost between €7 and €17 billion a year, representing 11 to 26 million tonnes of catch. (LC)