Last week the European Parliament adopted a consultative report on the proposal for a regulation establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

MEPs proposed several amendments concerning the Community list of IUU fishing vessels, the inspections to be carried out and the sanctions and other measures to be imposed by Member States.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a serious and growing problem worldwide. In certain fisheries, such as bluefin tuna and cod, the percentage of IUU fish is very high, sometimes as much as half of the total catch or even more. Among the most important IUU fishery scandals in recent years are bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean, cod in the Barents and Baltic Seas and Patagonian toothfish.

According to the rapporteur, Marie-Hélène AUBERT, the proposal establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing "deserves the full support of Parliament, for it is to a significant extent based upon the demands that Parliament itself has made" on its report on the implementation of the EU action plan against IUU fishing, from 15 February 2007.

"If the proposal is adopted in its present form, it would put the Community at the forefront of international efforts to eliminate IUU fishing and in a position to put pressure on States which continue to allow IUU fishing by their vessels. Considering the Community's prominence as one of the largest fishing powers and the largest market in the world, the EU has a clear responsibility to be at the forefront", she says.

The essential elements of the proposal consist of:

• The creation of a list of vessels (both EU-flagged and non-EU) that are involved in IUU fishing

• A scheme of port state control that would prohibit access by third country IUU vessels

• A ban on the importation of IUU fish, by requiring certification by the flag state that the fish is legal

• The development of a Community Alert System when there is a suspicion that IUU fish has been detected

• Prohibition of importing fish from countries that have been identified as not cooperating with the EU scheme

• Provisions detailing what actions are to be taken in each of the above situations

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