The European Union published an infographic, providing information of the Illegal, Unreported and Undocumented (IUU) fishing, which still is on the rise in many countries. Specifically, fishing can be though of as illegal when there’s no authorization, when it is against conservation and management measures by RFMOs and when it is against national laws and international regulations.
As presented in the Infographic below, fishing is considered as Unreported if:
- Not reported or the reporting contravenes international RFMO or national laws and regulations.
Whereas, the undocumented fishing has the below features:
- The fishing vessel has no nationality;
- Fishing activities jeopardise fish stocks.
The IUU fishing practices worth 10 billion euros annually on a global scale. In addition they hold the 19% of the worldwide reported value of catches.
Also IUU fishing poses great threats to the sustainable fishing and damages to the environment, while also affects socio-economic conditions.
In the meantime, many EU and non-EU states cooperate to protect the fishing industry and promote compliance with International rules. IUU fishing affects legitimate operators who are hit by unfair competition and threatens food security and socio-economic conditions.
In the possibility that a non-EU country faces problems fulfilling international rules, the steps are:
- Pre-identification: The European Commission opens a formal dialogue during minimum 6 months. If the country improves its situation the 6 month period can be prolonged and ultimately the pre-identification can be removed. If the country does not address the problems it will be identified by the EU as non-cooperating.
- Delisting: Continued dialogue can lead to restore the import of legally caught fishery products.
Concluding, according to the EU more than 30 third countries have improved their systems to fight IUU.
