Pirate fishing is out of control, depriving some the most world's most vulnerable communities of food and leading to ecological catastrophe, a three-year investigation has found.
"Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most serious threats to the future of world fisheries. It is now occurring in virtually all fishing grounds from shallow coastal waters to deep oceans. It is believed to account for a significant proportion of the global catch and to be costing developing countries up to $15bn a year," says the report by the Environmental Justice Foundation.
Unscrupulous Chinese, European and Latin American companies, using flags of convenience, are operating illegal gear, fishing in sea areas they are not allowed and are not reporting their catches, the investigators found. In addition, ships are laundering illegally caught fish by transferring them at sea to legal boats making it impossible to identify catches.The situation is particularly serious in African waters where pirate fishing may be now be taking nearly 30% of the catch from local fishermen. "IUU operators are stealing food from some of the poorest people in the world and are ruining the lives of local fishermen in countries like Somalia, Angola. These countries do not have the resources to police their territorial waters," says the report.An aerial survey of Guinea's territorial waters found that 60% of the 2,313 ships spotted were committing offences. Surveys of Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau waters found that levels of illegal fishing at 29% and 23%. An estimated 700 foreign-owned vessels are fishing regularly in Somalian waters for endangered tuna, shark and lobster."Heavily armed foreign vessels come close inshore and compete with small scale, artisan fishermen. They destroy their nets and traps and this has resulted in confrontations and loss of life," says the report...more..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/08/pirate-fishing-eco-disaster-report
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