African countries seek to check illegal fishing

Seven African countries have resolved to form a taskforce for sustainable fisheries and curb illegal fishing off the eastern coast of the continent, especially the Horn of African region. A statement from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) issued in Nairobi on Tuesday decried the impact of illegal and unregulated fisheries which it said cannot be under- estimated. "The impacts of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fisheries cannot be under estimated," IGAD said in a joint statement issued after a regional meeting. "IUU fishing occurs in all parts of our waters even within areas under our national jurisdiction; this situation poses a direct and significant threat to effective conservation and management of our natural fish stocks, causing multiple adverse consequences for fisheries and for our citizens who depend on them in the pursuit of their legitimate livelihoods," the statement said. Dozens of unlicensed fishing vessels enter African waters daily and trawl for shrimp, sardines, tuna, and mackerel. According to recent studies, such trawlers are costing Africa some 1 billion U. S. dollars every year. However, many countries, even developed states with substantial marine security forces struggle to keep unlicensed fishing vessels from their waters. Licensed vessels are required by a variety of national and international agreements to adhere to certain fishing quotas and keep away from protected areas. Fleets are also prohibited from using long trawling fishing nets. Such nets catch everything within their reach, and the excess or unwanted types of fish are simply discarded, a process that contributes to depleting natural fish stocks. The IGAD meeting which was facilitated by the Fish I Africa Organization and the African Maritime Safety and Security Agency formalized the development of a taskforce. "All delegates were extremely concerned that in general the Horn of Africa fishery management objectives had become frustrated by external influences, and spelt out that a continuation of IUU fishing could lead to the collapse of a fishery and/or seriously impair efforts to rebuild depleted fish stocks," the statement said. According to the statement, evidence was provided that highlighted the fact that left unchecked, illegal fishing would totally contravene the benefits of effective fisheries management. It was agreed that unregulated fishing is an expressly illegal activity which is undertaken with little regard for applicable standards and that for the Horn of Africa the illegal fishers gain an unjust advantage over legitimate fishers. "A serious of action points were raised with the main action being the formation of a task force which would focus on developing a Sustainable Fisheries Management Strategy for the Horn of Africa," the statement said. A local fisherman's cooperative explained that often their nets were cut away and even their small boats were charged by large vessels from the international fleets and that often their fishing fields were simply taken over by those vessels. He stated that the biggest clan war around the Horn of Africa region was in the sea with the two major clans heralding from Asia and Europe.