The EU will encourage the ratification of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement on the safety of fishing vessels at the Ministerial Conference on Safe and Legal Fishing, organised by Spain and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in Torremolinos from 21 to 23 October.
This agreement will contribute to improving ocean governance by putting in place basic international safety requirements for fishing vessels. It will also help to counter illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.
The Cape Town 2012 Agreement will enter into force twelve months after the date on which at least 22 States (the cumulative number of fishing vessels of 24 metres and with an aggregate total fishing fleet of 3,600 vessels) have expressed their consent.
To date, a total of 11 countries (with an aggregate fleet of 2,400) have ratified the Convention, including six from the EU (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain).
The Commission sees it as urgent to establish a global framework with many benefits (upgrade of safety for people working on board fishing vessels, international safety standards for fishing vessels). Fishing is a high-risk profession. In 2017, in the EU, 203 people were injured and 13 fishermen lost their lives in accidents at sea involving fishing vessels. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)