Red cards for rogue flag states
The EU Commission has red-carded Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Comoros, and issued Liberia with a warning.
Poachers face fines and jail time
Six Indonesian illegal fishermen faced Darwin Local Court last week where they pleaded guilty to offences of attempting to steal a haul of trochus shell (sea snail).
Five million in fines for illegal fishing
The Spanish authorities have handed out fines totalling five million Euros to six companies and six individuals investigated under Operation Sparrow 2.
Suspected identity fraud and IUU: Liberia arrests cargo ship
After receiving intelligence that a refrigerated cargo vessel was suspected of transmitting a fraudulent identity outside the Port of Monrovia, the Liberian Coast Guard assisted by Sea Shepherd crew and Israeli maritime advisors boarded the Sierra Leone-flagged ship.
Rai Balang surveillance sweep nabs IUU boats
Blue boats have been spotted in the PNG EEZ, with boats fishing without a working Vessel Monitoring System and illegal shark fishing are amongst the license breaches picked up in the just-ended Operation Rai Balang surveillance sweep for 2017.
Poaching, not shrimpers, threaten vaquita
The calls by several NGOs for Mexican shrimp to be boycotted as part of an effort to save the beleaguered vaquita, a species of marine mammal endemic to the Sea of Cortez, are misplaced and harmful and likely to contribute to the vaquita’s extinction rather than prevent it. The vaquita population is thought to have dropped to as few as thirty animals remaining in the wild.
Malta declaration on Med stocks
Agreement has been reached between eight EU nations and seven third countries on management of Mediterranean fish stocks over the next decade, setting out an ambitious programme of work designed to safeguard fish stocks.
Vietnamese fishing boat apprehended at Lihou Reef
A Vietnamese fishing vessel suspected of illegally fishing in Australian waters has been apprehended off the coast of Cairns.
Vidal off the hook
According to reports in the Spanish press, the case against Vidal Armadores, the beneficial owners of a fleet of vessels operating at various times fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean collapsed on a point of law.
Australia and France join forces on IUU fishing
Collaboration with international counterparts is an important part of successful fisheries management. Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) Fisheries Officers routinely conduct joint patrols to help combat the global issue of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.