An international treaty known as the Agreement
on Port State Measures (PSMA) to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal,
Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, has been commended by the
Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Mr. José
Graziano da Silva, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The PSMA, NaijaAgroNet gathered, according to
da Silva, would soon have 48 parties, counting all 28 members of the European
Union as one - with Japan and Montenegro about to join after having deposited
their instruments of adhesion.
“This gives the one-year-old treaty added
heft,” Graziano da Silva declared, adding that he was very confident more
countries will join in the near future.
Speaking at the first meeting of the Parties,
hosted by the Government of Norway to hammer out details regarding the
implementation of the PSMA, Graziano da Silva said, noting that FAO-brokered
treaty which restricts port access to fishing vessels that fail to comply with
a set of rules, including proof that they have proper operating licenses and
transparent disclosure of the species and quantity of fish caught.
The PSMA represents the capstone of years of
diplomatic effort to combat the scourge of IIU fishing, which amounts to up to
26 million tonnes, worth some $23 billion a year, and represents a huge threat
to all efforts to bolster sustainable fishing in the world's oceans.
NaijaAgroNet
notes that parties to the PSMA currently account for more than two-thirds of
the global fish trade.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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