Brussels, 24/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 July, the European Commission decided to give three third countries an extra six months to improve their arrangements to address illegal fishing, onin view of the progress that has been made. In November 2013, the Commission sent warnings to Korea, Ghana and the island of Curaçao, three countries which have been accused of violating their international obligations on the fight against illegal fishing (see EUROPE 10971).
The decision means that these third countries may now be able to escape commercial sanctions, such as those taken in March of this year by the European Union against three other third countries (Belize, Cambodia and Guinea) deemed to be non-cooperative (see EUROPE 11045). Catches made by fishing vessels of these three countries may not be imported into the EU.
However, in the cases of Korea, Ghana and Curaçao, the Commission takes the view that they have all made “credible progress” towards respecting their obligations as flag, coastal, port or market states. They are updating their legal frameworks to include the fight against illegal fishing, tightening up controls and monitoring systems and playing a proactive role as regards the international rules laid down by the regional fisheries management organisations. “Clearly, however, the adoption and implementation of new rules take time”, the Commission acknowledges.
To monitor third countries, the EU has at its disposal regulation 1005/2008 of the Council establishing a Community system which aims to prevent, discourage and eradicate illegal, undeclared and unregulated (IUU) fishing. This essential instrument aims to reserve access to the EU market to fisheries products whose legality has been certified by the flag state or the exporting state in question. According to estimates, illegal fishing activities is worth a total value of some €10 billion a year. Every year, between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish are caught illegally, corresponding to at least 15% of global catches. (LC)