IUU fishing destroys marine habitats
Illegal, Unreported, and Underreported (IUU) fishing environmentally destroys marine habitats, leads to the disappearance of species, and causes marine pollution.
Socially, it could lead to food insecurity, unemployment, and poverty among coastal dwellers and fishermen, adding that it could also fuel organized crimes, piracy, and attacks on surveillance officers.
Economically, a loss of value for legal fishers, a failure in revenues from taxation and licencing, and the disorganization of the national economy.
IUU fishing, therefore, remains one of the most feared maritime threats in the Gulf of Guinea. This is so because of the detrimental effects on the economy, food security, employment, and marine environment, as well as its links to transnational organized crime.
Mr. Barthelémy Blédé, a Key Expert in the Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security (SWAIMS) Project, made the disclosure during a presentation on IUU fishing at the ongoing two-week course on Maritime Security and Transnational Organized Crime (MSTOC).
The workshop is organized by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) with support from the German Government.
Mr. Blédé further said that on the regional level, there was a need to strengthen the architecture of the Yaoundé Code and information sharing, adding that there must also be a strengthening of cooperation between the states of the region.
He also called for the finalization and implementation of regional instruments to support sub-regional fisheries management organizations, among others.
He indicated that internationally, an end must be put to subsidies offered to fishing companies coming to fish in the waters of the region, such as in China, the EU, the United States, Korea, and Japan.
The Maritime Security Expert said sanctions must be given against lax countries, while support must be given to fisheries and aquaculture projects and programmes.
He indicated that the actions devoted to IUU fishing were thwarted by many challenges, including weak cooperation, a lack of transparency, and corruption.
He added that as responsibilities were shared, only a convergence of actions between national, regional, and international actors could eradicate it, as no state could overcome maritime insecurity alone.
He said some of the countermeasures that countries could adopt in the fight against IUU include improving inter-agency cooperation, coordination, and communication, transparency in the issuance of fishing licences; adopting more restrictive legislation; and fighting corruption.
Other measures on the national level are the reinforcement of surveillance, control, and monitoring of personnel and equipment, the involvement of civil society organizations, as well as the development of aquaculture.
—CDA Consult II Contributor