Brussels, 26/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - In the Seychelles on Wednesday 24 January, the European Commission, on behalf of the EU, signed a framework partnership agreement with the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) to better combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The IOC is an inter-governmental organisation, which was set up in 1984, and has five members: the Comoros Islands, France (on behalf of La Réunion), Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The EU has set aside €7 million for the period 2007 - 2010 to contribute to the costs of intensified surveillance efforts and will help explore the benefits of using sophisticated surveillance technologies, such as satellite monitoring. “This is a concrete example of the EU putting its money where its mouth is. We are fully committed to combating illegal fishing practices and we believe that regional fisheries management organisations, such as the IOC, are crucial to winning this battle. The EU funding will strengthen the IOC in its endeavours against such practices,” said Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.
The EU-IOC partnership agreement will put in place a regional fisheries monitoring programme in the south west of the Indian Ocean. The aim of this plan is to assist the Indian Ocean countries develop and implement effective and more modern strategies for the control of fishing activities. To avoid IUU fishing, the parties have agreed to ban transhipment (transfer of cargo, crew and supplies between vessels) at sea and to deny access to ports for vessels which have been blacklisted by any regional fisheries management organisation, or which are not included on the “white list” of vessels fishing legally. In addition, the agreement also includes harmonisation of national legislation against IUU fisheries, and setting fines at a level sufficient to deter illegal activities.
The EU has fisheries partnership agreements with the non-EU members of the IOC (the Comoros Islands, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Madagascar) and is the main importer of the region's seafood products. These Indian Ocean countries and the EU are also members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), a much larger regional organisation than the IOC (European Community, Australia, China, Comoros, Eritrea, France, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vanuatu). (lc)