It’s an ambitious project, and the The Global Fishing Legislative Database launched by The Outlaw Ocean Project certainly goes a long way towards meeting a need as it attempts to provide a single resource covering fishing regulations around the world.
‘If you don’t know the rules, it’s tough to determine whether they’ve been broken. The Global Fishing Legislative Database, is meant to solve this problem. It is an interactive tool that helps the public answer a variety of important questions about what rules apply in every coastal country’s waters,’ the Outlaw Ocean Project states.
‘Can a Spanish fishing ship legally turn off its locational transponder in Ghanaian waters? Is a Chinese ship required to employ a certain percentage of Argentine crew when it’s fishing in Argentina? If a vessel has a record of breaking the law in another country, will it be denied a license to fish in the waters of Madagascar? Does Brazil allow the use of fish-aggregating devices?’
These are the questions to which The Global Fishing Legislative Database aims to be able to provide straihgtforward answers. So far it lists legislative date for 68 nations, and aims to continue to build this data bank of fisheries rules and regulations around the world.
The intended audience for this new resource is journalists, academics, advocates, and other stakeholders. Under the editorial oversight of Maya Martin and Jake Conley, this research effort took a year’s worth of effort and collaboration from an international team of several dozen specialists.
It does not typically include local or tribal rules. It does not incorporate additional rules imposed by RFMOs, nor does it cover activities beyond fishing such as mining or shipping. Its aim is to include the rules relating to fishing activities (encompassing marine and labour concerns) that apply to all coastal nations around the world.
