How to eliminate IUU fishing for toothfish
As has been demonstrated many times, government actions alone are unable to keep up with the speed of illegal fishing activities. And toothfish is a species of fish found in highly remote areas, often thousands of miles from the nearest populated landmass, and in very bad weather conditions. For governments alone to effectively enforce fishing activities in the southern ocean is a difficult, time-consuming, and expensive exercise.
Effective surveillance and enforcement can only come, we believe, by legal operators, conservation groups and government agencies working in partnership to combat IUU fishing.
[Read about the outcomes from the OECD IUU Workshop held in Paris, April 2004]
To eliminate IUU fishing for toothfish, COLTO sees the need for controls as being much broader than just enforcement activity at sea. It involves the need for:
- Member nations of CCAMLR to work together to devise and implement rules to restrict opportunities for IUU fishing;
- Member nations of CCAMLR to take effective domestic, action to preclude their nationals from participating in IUU fishing, and to ensure they have considerable disincentives (eg financial penalties) to dissuade their nationals from illicit activities;
- for innocent countries to avoid their Ships Registers and company structures from being abused by IUU operators (who use these countries for rapid name changes of their vessels, flag changes, and registrations to avoid capture;
- Port States must check all unloadings and landings of toothfish in their country, whether it be for export, import or just transhipment, and to provide that information to the relevant international and CCAMLR authorities;
- effective communication channels between legal industry, conservation groups, the general public, and governments to place as much pressure as possible on IUU operators to cease; and
- the provision of detailed, accurate evidence and information from those who may be aware of IUU activity but who otherwise had no-one to provide this information to.