Parties to FAO’s treaty gather to stop illegal harvests

Parties to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations gathered in Oslo, Norway in late May to discuss ways to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fish harvests.

The FAO treaty restricts port access to fishing vessels that fail to comply with rules set out in the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing. The agreement went into effect in June 2016 and now has 46 signers, with all 28 members of the European Union counted as one.

FAO officials said the treaty represents a capstone of years of diplomatic effort to combat IUU fishing, including up to 26 million tons of seafood worth $23 billion annually.

Arni M. Mathiesen, FAO’s assistant director-general for fisheries and aquaculture, said the treaty “signals a real sea change in the international community’s commitment to combat IUU fishing in a concerted and joint manner.”

Parties to the treaty now account for more than two-thirds of the global fish trade.

The United States of America is a member, and Japan and Montenegro are to become full parties in June.

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The weeklong meeting in Oslo, which began May 29, is expected to define responsibilities of the concerned states, as well as regional fisheries management organizations and other international bodies.

One subject on the agenda is how to assure proper exchange and publication of information since port states must signal violations to a ship’s flag state, as well as to regional authorities.

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