For the first time, the Spanish government, industry and NGOs are joining together in a collaboration to help combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Secretaria General de Pesca, the Organización de Productores Asociados de Grandes Atuneros Congeladores (OPAGAC) and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) will enable the implementation of a new pilot project that will allow the government to monitor fishing vessels operating in West Africa more effectively.
Steve Trent, executive director, EJF, said: “By utilising the latest technologies on vessels operating at sea we can better observe fishing activities taking place in West Africa where fisheries are a key source of food security and livelihoods. IUU fishing is rampant and fish stocks are seriously threatened.”
The aim of the project is to compile a body of evidence which may be able to be used for banning imports of fishing products from illegal origins.
This initiative complements others that the EJF is implementing in the West Africa region as part of the organisation’s innovative Fisheries Intelligence Network (FIN), which gathers evidence of the activities of pirate fishing vessels and helps to promote transparency in the fisheries sector. The network involves local African governments as well as European ones which collaborate together on the follow up of fishing activities and transhipments.
Mr Trent added that legal fishing operators also have an important role to play in the fight to end IUU fishing across the world’s oceans, by making sure they report any illegal activities.
