The European Court of Auditors published a Special Report aimed at answering the question “has the EU an effective fisheries control system in place?”. The report found that the Member States and the Commission have made progress in several areas but that due to significant weaknesses the EU did not yet have a sufficiently effective system for fisheries controls in place to support the success of the CFP. Member States had not yet fully implemented the EU’s fisheries control regulation and certain provisions of the regulation would need modification to enable Member States to effectively control fisheries activities. Member States did not sufficiently verify the accuracy of their fleets' capacity and of the information on the vessels in the fleet register. Although Member States monitored vessels using satellite-based tracking technology, 89 % of the vessels in the EU fleet were not monitored in this way. They also criticised lack of transparency in quota distribution to beneficiaries. Some provisions related to small scale fisheries also leave loopholes in the legislation, preventing a full monitoring of fishing activities and rigorous monitoring of fishing quotas uptake, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. The Commission issued a press release welcoming the findings of Special Report, considering it provides “an excellent opportunity for the EU to strengthen the control legal framework”.

Megapesca(Lda) Portugal

"The European Commission has issued a yellow card against Thailand as a potential non-cooperating third country in the fight against IUU fishing. This follows discussions held since 2011. It is taking action against Thailand for the alleged breaches of international commitments against IUU fishing. The EU considers that Thailand has significant shortcomings in its fisheries monitoring, control and sanctioning systems and concludes that it is not doing enough to address them. The Commission has identified that at least 11 Thai vessels have been involved in IUU activities during the period 2010 to 2014; the fact that many Thai vessels are not carrying VMS onboard in breach of IOTC rules, lack of traceability for imported fishery products, and inconsistencies in the catch certificates issued by the Thai authorities (for example with final products found to be up to twice the amount of raw material) and product consigned from vessels not registered with RFMOs. Thailand had also failed to cooperate effectively with other states; the Department of Fisheries was unaware that 5 Thai vessels were arrested for fishing illegally in the PNG EEZ in October 2014."

Source:  MEGAPESCA LDA (Portugal)

TAGS: EU, IUU fishing, Thailand, yellow card, sustainable fisheries

In a Telegram article by Ashley Fitzpatrick entitled “Province Releases Aquaculture Strategy “ the new Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Vaughn Granter, makes the claim that aquaculture is “a real success for rural Newfoundland and Labrador”. Similarly, Cyr Couturier, President of the Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association spins the same message of success and adds that “ the investment is very small compared to what the returns have been. It’s demonstrable”.

The problem with both statements is their claims are not “demonstrable”. We are left wondering what criteria Minister Granter used in concluding that aquaculture has been a “success”. Did he take into consideration the following:

TAGS: NL, aquaculture, rural communities