D-G urges effective implementation of global anti-rogue fishing treaty

NaijaAgroNet:

The recent entry into force of a ground-breaking international accord on illegal fishing is a welcome development but it now requires "strong and effective implementation", says Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva, reports NaijaAgroNet.  

In his speech at the Our Ocean Conference in the United States capital, Graziano da Silva lauded the signatories of the FAO-brokered Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA).

Also, da Silva provided United States Secretary of State John Kerry with an update on the status of the treaty, which came into force in June.

"In 2014 only 10 nations had ratified the PSMA," Kerry noted in his conference address. "All of us then decided that we could do better and we did ... because more than 60 nations have now ratified the PSMA and that is critical," he said, urging all other countries to follow suit in adhering to the treaty.

"We need everyone to come onboard, otherwise rogue fishing vessels will continue to find ways to land and introduce their illegal catches into the markets of non-PSMA countries," da Silva said.

He likened adherence to the treaty to the international community's commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "a situation in which no one can be left behind."

NaijaAgroNet recalls that under the treaty, parties are obliged to implement a number of measures while managing ports under their control, to detect illegal fishing, preventing ill-caught fish from being offloaded and sold, and ensuring that information on unscrupulous vessels is shared globally.

FAO has launched a global programme to support countries with the implementation of the treaty and complimentary instruments, Graziano da Silva said. These include the Voluntary Guidelines on Flag State Performance, which spell out a range of actions that countries can take to ensure that vessels registered under their flags do not conduct illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Pix: FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva

Cape Verde battles unregulated fishing, joins Port State Measures Agreement

NaijAgroNet:

An African country of Cape Verde also known as Cabo Verde, has joined the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), as President Jorge Carlos Fonseca personally delivered his country’s ratification papers for the treaty to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as part of efforts at regulating fishing, reports NaijAgroNet.

The FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva who lauded Cape Verde for this step, invited the head of state to a forthcoming event in Rome to celebrate the first international treaty to focus specifically on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

“Cape Verde is acting responsibly and joining the international community’s effort, led by the United Nations and FAO, to combat practices that limit sustainable access to resources that are important not only to the whole world but in particular to our island country,” said Mr. Fonseca.

NaijAgroNet recalls that as many as 60 countries have signed the PSMA will be at the special event when the Committee on Fisheries begins its 32nd session at FAO’s headquarters on July 11.

Although FAO drafted the treaty and began shepherding its adoption in 2009, the PSMA, which requires all fishing vessels to allow inspectors aboard when they stop in foreign ports, went into legal force earlier this month after over 25 countries including Cuba and the United States of America, Mozambique and the European Union acting on behalf of its 28 members deposited their instruments of adherence.

Graziano da Silva signalled FAO’s willingness to support Cape Verde’s fisheries sector, saying the agency’s collaboration with the country is “very progress”. Current projects include initiatives to tackle desertification, bolster reforestation efforts and to promote marine resources management and the Blue Economy.

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