Another barrier to trading in illegal catches has been raised as Kenya became the 51st nation to become party to the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). This international treaty is designed to end illegal fishing by tightening controls exerted on fishing vessels as they access port services.
Joint training on vessel bridge inspections and information cross-referencing has been held in support of the FCWC West Africa Task Force.
Co-operation between environmental group Sea Shepherd and the East Timor National Police has resulted in raid on a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels.
It started with conservation officers who alerted the Ecuadorian Navy. A Chinese reefer vessel was inspected east of the Island of San Cristobal inside the Galapagos Marine Reserve and subsequently detained.
Only a week after commencing Operation Albacore II, a joint operation between Sea Shepherd and the Gabonese government to tackle IUU fishing in Central West Africa, the crew of a Sea Shepherd vessel have assisted Gabonese authorities in the arrest of two illegal trawlers.
The Australian Government has welcomed the news that Chinese authorities have taken action against the operator of a Chinese fishing vessel found to have been misreporting catches in Australian waters.
The company operating two vessels identified last year fishing illegally has been deregistered, its vessels banned from fishing and a fined the equivalent of more than half a million US$.
'Illegal fishing is contributing to overexploitation of marine resources. Norway has some of the best managed fish stocks in the world. We are now increasing our support for developing countries' efforts to combat illegal fishing.' Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende has announced.
The first Meeting of the Parties to FAO's bold new international treaty aimed at cracking down on illicit fishing opened today in Oslo, as delegates began hammering out ways to make the agreement a success, with the attention on implementation.
The first working version of the Information System of the Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels (Global Record) has been released to member countries in order to collect their data.