#Mediterranean countries advance on  fighting illegal fishing in world’s most overfished sea

Oceana praises the progress made by Mediterranean countries during a fisheries compliance meeting of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), held last week in Tirana, Albania.

At the conclusion of the regional gathering between 24 contracting parties, delegates agreed to adopt a stricter sanctioning process for non-compliant Mediterranean countries, and to improve transparency and modernize measures against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Oceana applauds this progress but will remain vigilant towards any evidence of clear fisheries violations in the Mediterranean Sea, such as illegal fishing inside closed areas. It is of utmost importance to ensure that these activities are exposed and do not go unpunished.

“This is a laudable move by GFCM, as the proposals championed by the EU would align the GFCM with international standards already in place in many other shared fishing areas around the world. For example, empowering Mediterranean countries to take action if service providers, such as insurers or banks are found to be benefiting from and supporting IUU fishing, is a state-of-the-art approach in the fight against IUU fishing,” said Oceana in Europe Policy Manager Nicolas Fournier.

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