The research was conducted by the Pew Environment Group, which revealed that no less than 27,000 new jobs could be created in the European Union (EU) through the elimination of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing. The Pew Environment Group commissioned EFTEC (an environmental economics consultancy) to calculate the costs of IUU fishing and the corresponding gains of stopping the practice.
Markus Knigge, Research Director, Pew European Marine Programme, informed that this research clearly shows that the current levels of IUU fishing in EU Member States has significant economic, social and environmental costs which limit the potential of the fishing sector. It is also told that EU members could realise this potential, but only if they counter IUU fishing through enforcing existing measures and by supporting the swift introduction of stringent controls and enforcement.
It is fact that IUU fishing takes many forms, including fishing without a license, misreporting of catches, fishing in closed areas or with illegal gear, and taking undersized fish. According to the EFTEC research the cost of these practices in selected fish groups across five large marine ecosystems: €10 billion of lost catches by 2020; €8 billion of lost stock value in 2020; and 27,000 lost jobs in the fishing and processing industries. The research includes selected costs and key stocks where clear evidence of IUU fishing exists.
The Pew Environment Group has laid down few measures to eliminate these costs and called on the European Institutions and Member States to strengthen the EU control and enforcement regime by introducing: Meaningful sanctions for non-compliance; Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS); Independent observers onboard in any form; Central computerised repositories for all information relating to fisheries offences and their perpetrators; and Suspension of Community aid to the fisheries sector, including the granting of fishing rights under Fisheries Partnership Agreements, if a Member State fails to respect its control obligations.
