European Commission has adopted a Regulation establishing the implementing rules for the 2008 Regulation to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. IUU Regulation is said to control all landings and transhipments of third-country fishing vessels in Community ports and all trade of marine fishery products to and from the Union.
Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg commented that IUU fishing is currently one of the most serious threats to the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. He said that it jeopardises the marine environment, the sustainability of fish stocks and marine biodiversity.
It is good that the new regulation has implemented as illegal fishing practices are simply intolerable, and it is the need of the hour to eradicate them inside and outside the EU market. According to Borg as from 2010, the new controls will help those fishermen that play by the rules and will ensure a better control and enforcement of management and conservation rules.
It is informed that the IUU Regulation and its implementing rules have the ambitious goal to combat illegal fishing by making sure that none of its products end up on the Community market. To do so, the Regulation sets up a catch certification scheme ensuring the full traceability of all marine fishery products traded from and into the Community.
The new implementing rules provide the legal and technical framework for the implementation of the IUU Regulation. They cover the access to designated Community ports by third-country fishing vessels and inspection. They also address catches by small fishing vessels and deal with the recognition of some catch documentation schemes adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
