Brussels, 10/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 10 May, the European Commission welcomed the entry into force at the start of this month of the new port state control scheme, adopted in November last year by the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), to combat illegal fishing. From now on, foreign fishing vessels will not be authorised to land frozen fish products in the ports of NEAFC members unless the state where the vessel is registered has given the port state its green light in advance (see EUROPE 9309 on NEAFC decisions).
“The scheme represents a major step towards ensuring that all the fish put on sale within the European Union has been legally caught,” the Commission says. The contracting parties to NEAFC are: the European Union, Denmark (in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland), Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation. “Those who fish illegally do so to make money. If they cannot land their products, they cannot sell them. So they will have no incentive to keep on breaking the law,” commented Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg. The port state control scheme was adopted unanimously at NEAFC's annual meeting last November. From 1 May 2007, prior notification of landings of frozen fish by foreign fishing vessels will have to include a declaration by the master of the vessel of the catch on board. Before the landings can be authorised by the port state, the flag state must exercise its responsibility by verifying the information provided in the declaration. This means that the flag state must confirm, firstly, that the fishing vessel had sufficient quota for the fish on board and, secondly, that the catch had been taken into account in the national monitoring quota uptake regime. The flag state must also confirm that the vessel was authorised to fish and that the area of catch, declared by the vessel, has been verified through the records received via the satellite-based vessel monitoring system. The NEAFC decision has already been transposed into Community legislation. (lc)