Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg has welcomed the positive results reached at the annual meeting of the South Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO), currently chaired by the EU.
The main debate centred around the issue of sensitive habitats and the Scientific Council recommendation to close certain areas with seamounts and conduct small scale experimental fisheries to gather data. The EU's proposal to close 10 such areas for 2007-2010 was approved and most of these cover areas where no fishing has occurred to date. Other measures to fight illegal fishing practices were agreed, among others a ban on transhipments in the SEAFO area, and a process to identify and blacklist vessels practising illegal fishing activities.
Commissioner Borg also welcomed the cooperation of Norway in the negotiations and the indication by South Africa that it would join SEAFO in the near future.
At the meeting, all measures proposed by the European Union on conservation and management issues were adopted. SEAFO agreed the following eco-system based conservation measures, which aim at ensuring sustainable and responsible fisheries in the South East Atlantic waters:
• Ban transhipments at sea in order to combat illegal fishing practices
• Identify and blacklist vessels which undertake illegal fishing activities
• Control and monitor fisheries through setting up of a record of vessels, placing scientific observers on board vessels, and applying the satellite-based vessel monitoring system (VMS) and catch reporting requirements
• Reduce incidental mortality of seabirds, especially petrels and albatrosses, by adjusting fishing gear and using other technical measures
• Ban shark finning whereby valuable shark fins are cut off and retained on board while the rest of the carcass is thrown overboard
• Reduce incidental mortality of sea turtles in fishing operations through immediate release of turtles caught in fishing gear
