Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Archives

Spain sanctions 25 fishing vessels for disabling tracking devices following Oceana investigation

Oceana’s report shows that sanctioned vessels repeatedly switched off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) while fishing The Spanish Directorate-General for Merchant Shipping has issued fines of up to €60,000 per vessel following a review of Oceana’s investigation The Spanish government has sanctioned 25 Spanish-flagged fishing vessels for turning off their tracking devices while fishing off … Read more

Mediterranean Countries Can Now Penalize States who Fail to Tackle Overfishing and Illegal Fishing

The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) created a sanction system that will allow it to penalize states that fail to tackle overfishing or illegal fishing by their fleets. This action, which is the result of campaigning by Oceana and its allies, is essential to restoring fish populations in the Mediterranean Sea, one of … Read more

Oceana in Europe: 20 years rebuilding ocean abundance

For the past twenty years, Oceana in Europe has been campaigning for a healthy, abundant ocean full of life. And it has paid off! We have campaigned for many years to increase sustainable fisheries in the North-East Atlantic. When we first started our work in Europe, only 20 commercial fish stocks were exploited at sustainable … Read more

NGOs Call for Urgent Action: Conservation Measures Vital for Protection of Mediterranean Fisheries and Ecosystems

New Measures Would Allow Authorities to tackle non-compliance and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing As officials from Mediterranean countries gather this week for the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) annual session in Croatia, NGOs are urging the adoption of a system of corrective measures that would allow the GFCM to tackle illegal, … Read more

Call for the GFCM to increase transparency and effectively tackle non-compliance cases and IUU fishing

Ahead of the forty-sixth session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in Split, Croatia Oceana, together with Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, ClientEarth, Environmental Justice Foundation, MedReAct, Pew Charitable Trust, and WWF, who work together to protect the Mediterranean Sea against the impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, are calling on … Read more

Ensuring companies address adverse environmental impacts in their value chains: The case of illegal fishing

Summary The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will introduce obligations on companies to conduct environmental and human rights due diligence in relation to their operations, subsidiaries, and value chains. This briefing calls for the definition of adverse environmental impacts within CSDDD to sufficiently cover a broad range of impacts, in line with other … Read more

EU Requires Tracking Systems for All Its Fishing Vessels

The European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council agreed a new law that requires all European Union (EU) fishing vessels, including 49,000 small-scale vessels, to install and use tracking systems by 2030 at the latest. Tracking systems have numerous benefits for the ocean, including promoting sustainable fisheries by increasing transparency about fishing activities. Simultaneously, … Read more

Cutting the lines to IUU fishing: Five actions governments can take

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global phenomenon that depletes fish stocks, harms local communities and marine ecosystems, creates unfair market competition, and deprives governments of billions of dollars in tax revenue each year. IUU fishing is notoriously difficult to tackle, not least because it usually occurs far from shore. Pursuing violators can … Read more

European Parliament votes to bring EU fisheries into the digital era

After no less than 5 years of negotiations, the European Parliament has voted in favour of adopting the new EU fisheries Control Regulation After years of complex technical negotiations, the EU’s new system to ensure that fisheries rules are effectively applied has been formally adopted by the European Parliament. Cameras on vessels identified as being … Read more

Charting Progress since MedFish4Ever Declaration

As Mediterranean states of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) gather for the High-level Conference on MedFish4Ever Initiatives, it presents a valuable opportunity to reflect, assess, and implement lessons learned since the adoption of the Malta MedFish4Ever Declaration in 2017. This declaration on the future of Mediterranean fisheries adopted in Malta in 2017 … Read more