Source: Seafood Source
The latest technical paper on catch documentation schemes from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), discusses how such schemes benefit, or could benefit, deep-sea fisheries by protecting them from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Continue reading High-seas illegal fishing thwarted by catch documentation schemes
The Oceans in Crisis Briefing for the G77 Forum at the United Nations (UN) on October 3rd was attended by many States including Brazil, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Trinidad and the Seychelles. The briefing opened with an introduction from Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Farukh Amil, who hosted the event and spoke about the importance of ocean and natural resource protection. Dr Ussif Rashid Sumaila, Director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit, University of British Colombia Fisheries Centre, provided analyses on the state of the oceans over the past 50 years and examined trends including the rise in distant water fishing from North to South, as well as the rise in fishing access agreements and subsidies.
As the High Seas Task Force proposed a global database to track down illegal fishing vessels as one of nine initiatives to close the net on modern day pirate fishers, Greenpeace revealed that European governments are turning a blind eye to unregulated fishing vessels flying European flags.
As the United Nations Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS) meeting begins today, the international community faces a crisis of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. The high seas make up the majority of the world’s oceans and large parts of the high seas are devoid of effective internationally agreed controls for activities such as high seas bottom trawling making it the single biggest area open to abuse and exploitation.
Continue reading High time for high seas: timeout on bottom trawling key to sustainable oceans
Fisheries Ministers from around the world meeting in Rome today, have failed to agree action to protect deep-sea biodiversity from the destructive impact of bottom trawl fishing on the high seas. The Ministers are gathered for a special meeting hosted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) to discuss combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing worldwide as well as technical assistance to fishing communities in the Indian Ocean devastated by the December Tsunami.
