The 13th annual meeting of South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) ended without agreement on banning gillnets, direct deep-water shark fishing and shark finning, the European Commission reported with regret on Tuesday 6 December.
At their meeting in South Africa, which ended on 2 December, SEAFO members adopted an EU proposal to upgrade the system of fisheries monitoring and compliance. The meeting also adopted total allowable catches (TACs) for the main SEAFO species, based on scientific advice.
“Regrettably however, (SEAFO) failed to adopt binding measures to ban gillnets, direct deep-water shark fishing and shark finning”, the Commission stated.
The Commission had tabled the proposals for bans and “regrets this missed opportunity to combat non-sustainable fishing practices”.
The contracting parties to SEAFO include Angola, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Namibia, Norway and South Africa. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)