Rome - The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has approved a treaty that aims to close fishing ports to ships involved in illegal fishing, the Rome-based UN agency said Wednesday. The treaty, known as the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) is set to enter into force once 25 countries have ratified it.
"It's a milestone achievement - no longer will we solely rely on the ability of fishing nations to monitor behaviour by vessels flying their flags on the open waters of the oceans," FAO Fisheries Department's Assistant Director-General, Ichiro Nomura, said in a statement.
"Now countries are committing to taking steps to identify, report and deny entry to offenders at ports where fishing fleets are received. That's a key back-door that will be slammed shut with the new international treaty," he added.
"It's the first time an internationally shared standard has been agreed on the issue and it will prevent ships from shopping around for ports" that don't apply regulations, FAO spokesman George Kourous explained.
To date 11 FAO members - Angola, Brazil, Chile, the European Commission, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway, Samoa, Sierra Leone, the United States and Uruguay - have signed the treaty.
By signing the treaty, governments also commit themselves to prevent fish from that have engagein illegal fishing from entering international markets, FAO said.
According to FAO, IUU fishing is an "insidious problem with far reaching consequences" including to people who depend on these resources for food and income.
Operating without proper authorization, catching protected species, using outlawed types of gear or disregarding catch quotas are among the most common IUU fishing activities.
While there are ways to combat IUU fishing at sea, they are often expensive and for developing countries, they can be difficult to implement, given the large ocean spaces that need to be monitored and the costs of the required technology, FAO said.
Key measures that states with ports that sign the treaty will commit to include:
- Foreign fishing vessels wishing to dock will be required to request permission from designated ports ahead of time, transmitting information on their activities and the fish they have on board. This will give authorities an opportunity to spot any red flags in advance.
- Port States will conduct regular inspections of ships according to a common set of standards. Reviews of ship papers, surveys of fishing gear, examining catches and checking a ship's records can often reveal if it has engaged in IUU fishing.
- They also must ensure that ports are adequately equipped and inspectors properly trained.
- When a vessel is denied access, port states must communicate that information publicly and national authorities of the country whose flag the vessel is flying must take follow-up action.
- These measures apply to foreign fishing vessels not flying the flag of port states. However countries can apply them to their own fishing fleets as well.
- Parties to the agreement are obliged to undertake regular monitoring of compliance, with a major review scheduled to occur four years after the agreement first takes effect.
