Revealing emerging findings from a recently published report commissioned by the UK Government on the scale of illegal fishing, UK Minister for Trade and Development Gareth Thomas said that illegal fishing is a persistent global problem which is having a chronic effect on developing countries.
The 'Global Extent of Illegal Fishing' report reveals that global annual loses from illegal fishing could be double earlier estimates at $10 to $23 billion annually. The report represents the first detailed quantitative analysis of the problem on a global scale.
The results demonstrated that there are significant differences in the level of IUU catch and the trends in those catches between regions, being highest in the Eastern Central Atlantic and lowest in the Southwest Pacific. Over the last 10 years IUU has declined in seven areas, increased in one and stayed the same in the remaining seven.
Mr Thomas said: "People and countries who can least afford it are losing out – many developing countries generate more revenue from fish exports than coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, rubber and tea combined. For a family in Africa, it’s about the father no longer being able to go out and earn a living because the area’s been overfished by illegal trawlers.
"Governments are not doing enough to protect their natural resources – countries such as Namibia, Iceland and New Zealand have understood this and ensured their fish boosts their economies, but many developing countries are missing out. We can turn this situation around but only if governments act now to protect their communities from criminal operators.”
David Quaye, 63, of Gbese in Dutch Accra, said: "I come from a fishing family - my father was a fisherman and my brothers are fishermen and I am secretary of the local fishermen’s association. A long time ago, when we were fishing there were no big fishing trawlers and if there were, there was a particular zone for them where they fish. Now these bigger, foreign fishing trawlers are mixed with the local fishermen.
"Illegal fishing has cost our fishermen a lot. Formerly they get fish, they get money, they send their children to school. But now they are not able to give to their family."
Mr Thomas continued:
"The international trade in fish is worth over $80 billion a year with more than half of that from developing countries. We have a duty to protect this – the unique nature of the renewable source means we can turn things around. The Department for International Development has led the way developing the voluntary partnerships between the EU and exporting states to tackle illegal logging - we need to apply this approach to illegal fishing."
