Illegal fishing

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Illegal fishing
Application and implementation (2/2)

 

A particular advance was obtained in cooperation with third countries. The European Commission not only collected data on IUU fishing activities within EU waters, but also assembled data on such activities in international waters, cooperating closely with the FAO and the administrations of regional fisheries management organisations. It then confronted the third country with its findings. When meetings and discussions did not lead to sufficient progress - i.e., to changes in the legislative and administrative approach to illegal fishing, the Commission, while continuing the negotiations, used the "yellow card procedure", Click here for more information! threatening to treat the country as non-cooperative. Only when the country committed itself to lasting changes in legislation, capacity building and improved monitoring, controls and investigations with regard to IUU, was the yellow card withdrawn. Where such progress was not achieved, the country in question was placed on the Council list of non-cooperating countries, with the consequence in particular that all imports of fishing products into the EU were prohibited. Click here for more information! At the same time, this Council list constituted a global alert that particular attention should be paid to the activities of vessels flying the flag of the state in question.

The Commission reported on intense negotiations on improving the existing infrastructure to combat IUU fishing activities in some 50 third countries, with successful legislative and monitoring changes in 15 countries. It did not further specify the countries nor did it reveal details of the negotiations. However, there can be little doubt that the threat of classifying a country as non-cooperative, with the consequence in particular that imports of fishing products from that country into the EU are prohibited is a very powerful instrument to reduce IUU fishing activities. As at the same time, the EU offered technical assistance and financial support to some 55 developing countries, the "carrot and stick"-approach seems promising and it is only consequential that the EU intends to continue with it.