A new study of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing proposes 10 steps policy makers should consider to improve the effectiveness of multilateral and unilateral catch documentation schemes to end the persistent global problem of IUU fishing
Key trade related measures to combat IUU fishing fall into two distinct categories, notes Giles Hosch, an independent fisheries expert who did the study for the International Centre for trade and Sustainable Development, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
The first is trade restrictive measures, sometimes referred to as trade sanctions, and catch certification schemes, including trade documentation schemes and catch documentation schemes. Trade restrictive measures have been used by a number of tuna regional fisheries management organizations since the early 1990s. A key attribute of trade documentation schemes is their capacity to detect flag of convenience vessel operations
Multilateral catch documentation schemes are operated by three regional fisheries management organizations, and provide a mechanism for certification of the legality of the harvest of the species covered and are relatively simple to police and enforce, according to Hosch’s study.
Hosch also proposes that policy-makers looking to improve the effectiveness of multilateral and unilateral trade restrictive measures consider several steps, to include ensuring that there are clear standards regarding what constitutes IUU fishing, clear rules and procedures for the identification of countries, and transparent public records on dialogues with potential targets of these trade restrictive measures.
Hosch further proposes designing trade restrictive measure provisions in a way that allows countries to be identified in their capacity as flag, coastal, port, or market states, and to be sanctioned in those same capacities.
The study also proposes that the international community could assess the feasibility of development and operation of global multilateral catch documentation scheme systems, designed to apply to specific species of fish in need of protection from IUU fishing throughout their global geographic range.
The complete study is online at
http://www.ictsd.org/sites/default/
files/research/trade_measures_to_combat_iuu_fishing-post_publishing_corrections_-_1_-_done.pdf
