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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:35 pm
Time: 9:35 pm
Results for iuu fishing
2 results foundAuthor: Macfadyen, Graeme Title: Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear Summary: Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a problem that is increasingly of concern. Various United Nations General Assembly resolutions now provide a mandate for, and indeed require, action to reduce ALDFG and marine debris in general. Consequently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) entered into an agreement to carry out a study in relation to ALDFG in order to raise awareness of the extent of the problem and to recommend action to mitigate the problem of ALDFG by flag states, regional fisheries management bodies and organizations, and international organizations, such as UNEP, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and FAO. This report reviews the magnitude and composition of ALDFG, and while noting that information is not comprehensive and does not allow for any global estimates, suggests that gillnets and fishing traps/pots may be the most common type of ALDFG, although netting fragments may also be common in some locations. The impacts of ALDFG are also considered and include: continued catching of target and non-target species (such as turtles, seabirds and marine mammals); alterations to the benthic environment; navigational hazards; beach debris/litter; introduction of synthetic material into the marine food web; introduction of alien species transported by ALDFG; and a variety of costs related to clean-up operations and impacts on business activities. In general, gillnets and pots/traps are most likely to "ghost fish" while other gear, such as trawls and longlines, are more likely to cause entanglement of marine organisms, including protected species, and habitat damage. The factors which cause fishing gear to be abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded are numerous and include: adverse weather; operational fishing factors including the cost of gear retrieval; gear conflicts; illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing; vandalism/theft; and access to and cost and availability of shoreside collection facilities. Weather, operational fishing factors and gear conflicts are probably the most significant factors, but the causes of ALDFG accumulation are poorly documented and not well understood. A detailed understanding of why gear is abandoned, lost or discarded is needed when designing and tailoring effective measures to reduce ALDFG in particular locations. A variety of measures are currently in place to reduce ALDFG, and these are profiled in this report. They include those which are preventative or ex-ante, and those which are curative or ex-post. Evidence suggests that while both are important, much of the emphasis to date has been placed on curative measures such as gear retrieval programmes and clean-up of beach litter, while preventative measures may generally be more cost-effective in reducing ALDFG debris and its impacts. This report concludes with a number of recommendations for future action to reduce ALDFG debris, be it on a mandatory or voluntary basis. It also considers at what scale and which stakeholders (e.g. international organizations, national government, the private sector, research institutions) might be best placed to address the wide range of possible measures to reduce the amount of ALDFG debris. Details: Rome, Italy: United Nations Environment Programme, 2009. 117p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2019 at: http://www.fao.org/3/i0620e/i0620e00.htm Year: 2009 Country: International URL: http://www.fao.org/3/i0620e/i0620e00.htm#Contents Shelf Number: 155493 Keywords: Crimes Against the EnvironmentEnvironmental Crime Fishing NetsGreen CriminologyHazardous Waste Illegal Dumping Illegal Unregulated and Unreported FishingIUU FishingMarine PollutionOceans Pollution Offences Against the Environment Pollution |
Author: Smyth, Chris Title: The Threat to Australia's Oceans from Supertrawlers Summary: Since the 1950s industrial-scale factory fishing fleets have roamed the world's oceans looking for fish, spurred on by demand, government subsidies and advances in technology. Overfishing, illegal fishing, decimated local coastal economies and illegal activities have followed in their wake. In the early 1980s Australia took control of its waters, limiting access by foreign fishing fleets that had been exploiting Australia's fish stocks including tuna and prawn for decades. Access thereafter was via agreement only. There was a lot at stake - Australian waters are particularly vulnerable to overfishing due to their low biological productivity and the difficulty in detection over such remote and vast areas. In the following decades Australia was able to develop a reputation for being one of the better managed fishing nations. The contrast between fishing intensity inside and outside Australia's waters is stark. Fishing fleets on the high seas operate right up to Australia's borders (see Figure 1, opposite). It is becoming apparent that Australia's reputation is increasingly a beacon drawing in the industrial fishing capacity that has depleted oceans elsewhere. The unprecedented approval for two European supertrawlers (industrial fishing boats that catch, process, freeze and store on a grand scale) to fish in Australian waters in recent years - the Margiris and the Dirk Dirk - is an indicator of this. The Australian public roundly rejected the notion of supertrawlers operating in our fisheries, but weak domestic regulation allows them to slip through into Australian waters. The two supertrawlers that have received regulatory approval to operate in Australian waters were hounded out by local communities. In response to high levels of concern, the federal government put in place a permanent ban on supertrawlers in Australian waters, but the research has found this to be 'tip of the iceberg regulation' - banning only a tiny subset (just six) of the world's supertrawler fleet. The research has also found that there have been moves for at least the last two years to bring other foreign fishing vessels into Australian waters. Australia's fishing fleet is relatively small, with limited capital and high operating costs given the vastness and limited productivity of our oceans. Ready-to-go foreign fishing vessels with far greater capacity appear to be an attractive option for significantly increasing catch in Australian waters. This report details what is known to this point including new information that has come to light as a result of questioning in the Federal Parliament and background research. At the time of going to print, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request lodged with the Federal Government earlier this year remains outstanding. Regulator transparency is limited in this area. Even with the limited information available, this report has found that there is both motive and opportunity - there is a push for increased commercial fishing effort in Australian waters, the industrial capacity found in foreign fishing fleets is necessary to achieve this aim, and Australia's legal loopholes and regulatory opaqueness make this possible. Further, this report finds that the prospect of industrial scale foreign fishing vessels becoming established in Australian waters poses an unacceptable risk to Australia's unique and diverse marine life, its fishing sustainability, its recreational fishing lifestyle and associated tourism ventures, its ability to uphold human rights and environmental safeguards, and its international reputation. This report makes two key recommendations - that a formal independent inquiry is now needed to investigate moves to bring foreign fishing vessels into Australian waters, and that the Federal Government must make good on its claim that supertrawlers are banned in Australia's vulnerable fisheries. Details: West End, Queensland, Australia: Australian Marine Conservation Society, 2019. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 20, 2019 at: https://www.marineconservation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AMCS-SOML-supertrawler-overseas-fleets-report-2019.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Australia URL: https://apo.org.au/node/234341?utm_source=APO-feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=rss-all Shelf Number: 155939 Keywords: AustraliaFisheriesForeign Fishing VesselsIllegal FishingIllegal, Undocumented, and Unregulated FishingIUU FishingSupertrawlers |