(MWN 02-12-09) The FAO Conference, the supreme governing body of the Organization of the UN passed a resolution that aims to close the fishing ports to vessels involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (known by its initials, IUU).

Once in force, it will be the first legally binding agreement at international level, focused on facing this problem. It will be also the only agreement that, together with flag States, primarily responsible for the conduct of ships operating under their flag on the high seas, involves several of the other States in combating IUU fishing.

The Agreement on measures of  the State of the port to prevent, avoid and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing will now enter into force once it has been ratified by 25 countries. The first eleven FAO member States signed the treaty immediately after it was passed by the Conference. They are Angola, Brazil, Chile, European Community, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway, Samoa, Sierra Leone, the United States and Uruguay.

By their adherence to the treaty, governments get committed to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing, including taking measures to prevent the entry into their ports of ships engaged in IUU fishing, thus preventing the caught fish enters illegally in the international market.

“This is the most important international treaty about fishing since the agreement on fish populations of 1995 of the UN,” said the Associated Director General of the FAO of the Fisheries Department, Ichiro Nomura.

A HISTORICAL ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED

“This is a historic achievement. We now do not depend only on the skill of fishing nations to monitor the conduct of vessels operating under its flag in international waters. Now countries have committed to take measures to identify report and deny access to offenders to the ports where they tie the fishing fleets. It is a vital back door that will be closed to them with a bang with this new international treaty,” said Nomura.

When preventing a responsible management, the IUU fishing damages the productivity of the fishing and could even cause its collapse. It is a serious problem for the people that depend on these resources to get food and money.

Among the most common illegal activities of IUU fishing there are operating without proper authorization, catching protected species, using illegal gear or ignore catch quotas.

While there are always ways to combat IUU fishing in the sea,  they are often expensive and difficult to implement for developing countries due to extensive ocean areas that have to be controlled and the cost of necessary technology. As a result, measures of the State of the port are generally considered one of the best and most effective ones to combat illegal fishing.

KEY MEASURES TO FULFILL

Among the key measures that the leading states of the ports agree to comply there are:

Foreign fishing ships that wish to dock will be required to ask for permission in advance in a series of specially designated ports, providing information about their activities and the fish on board. In this way, the authorities will have the opportunity to detect suspicious vessels in advance.

The leading States of the ports will carry out regular inspections of ships according to a set of common rules. The review of the documentation of the vessel, its fishing gear, catches and logbook can often reveal if they have made illegal fishing activities.

They must also guarantee that ports have adequate equipment and that inspectors are well trained.

When a ship is denied the access, the leading States of the ports have to disseminate this information publicly and national authorities of the country's flag ship must take subsequent actions. These measures are applied to foreign fishing vessels that are under a different flag from the leading States of the ports, but countries can also apply them to their own fishing fleets.

The signatories of the agreement are obliged to monitor its compliance regularly and a thorough review is planned in four years after the entry into force of the Agreement.