Sustainable fisheries partnership agreements (SFPA) must urgently evolve to meet the European Union’s sustainability and human rights goals, warns a new report.
The study by the EU IUU Fishing Coalition identifies persistent transparency gaps and insufficient stakeholder involvement and calls for a ‘new generation’ of agreements.
“SFPAs are a vital tool to support sustainable fisheries and coastal communities, but only if key clauses are strengthened and transparency is guaranteed,” said Tom Walsh, coordinator of the EU IUU Fishing Coalition.
“How can a fishery be considered sustainably managed if we don’t know who’s fishing?”
SFPAs allow EU vessels to legally fish in the waters of partner countries, in return for financial contributions to support local fisheries management and coastal communities. While more regulated than private fishing arrangements, the current implementation of SFPAs often fails to meet EU commitments.
The report criticises weak enforcement of the ‘transparency clause’, which requires partner countries to disclose all vessels authorised to fish in their waters, something few currently do.
Steve Trent, chief executive of the Environmental Justice Foundation, emphasised that these agreements ‘have the potential to be genuine, mutually-beneficial partnerships’, but said they must do more to meet both EU and partner countries’ ambitions.
WWF EU’s Laure Guillevic added, “The EU must ensure its fleet leads by example and that local voices are heard in negotiations.”
The coalition recommends that all fishing agreements and data be made public, with stricter oversight of vessel ownership and operations. It also urges adoption of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency to tackle illegal and unethical fishing practices.
