Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Archives

Spain, Portugal, France and Poland turn their backs on fisheries management and support depleting deep-sea fish stocks

According to the international organisation for marine research and conservation, Oceana, once again a group of European countries, led by Spain, France, Portugal and Poland are attempting to destroy any initiative taken to stop the deterioration of fish species and marine ecosystems. These governments have continually ignored the warnings given by the scientific community regarding … Read more

Oceana affirms that a United States Court has found shipowner Antonio Vidal guilty of illegally importing chilean sea bass

In order to avoid being extradited to the United States and sentenced to prison, Vidal must cease all activities related to Chilean sea bass fishing The uruguayan company Fidalur, controlled by Antonio Vidal, must cease its activities and disband within 45 days. The company has also been ordered to pay a $100,000 fine The international … Read more

Oceana calls for an agreement between Spain and Norway to chase illegal fishing

The continued detentions of fishing vessels under Spanish and other EU flags by Norwegian patrols in Northeast Atlantic waters highlight the weakness of fishing regulations to take on the offenders and the lack of political willpower to put an end to these legal loopholes. This year, the fishing vessels Arosa 9, Arosa 12 and Arosa … Read more

One hundred fifty morrocan drfitnetters fish illegally in the Alboran Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar

The Moroccan netters are overfishing the stocks of swordfish and killing 15,000 dolphins, pilot whales, sperm whales and other cetaceans, as well as 100,000 sharks per year. As soon as the illegal fishing activity of the Italian and French drift netters was documented during the months of June and July, the Oceana Ranger research catamaran … Read more

Oceana asks the Italian Fisheries Minister to finally make the european ban on driftnets effective

The Director of Oceana in Europe, Xavier Pastor, has written a letter to the Italian Government’s Fisheries Minister, Mr. Paolo de Castro, in which he describes the preliminary results of the report that Oceana is preparing dealing with the Italian fleet’s use of illegal driftnets. This report, which will be sent to the European Union … Read more

Oceana warns of suspicious interactions between italian driftnetters and purse-seiners at tuna-fattering farms in sicilian waters

During the Oceana Ranger’s recent expedition in the Tyrrhenian Sea, the crew on board the environmental organisation’s catamaran witnessed an interaction between illegal driftnetters and large purse-seiners congregating around the tuna fattening cages to the north of the Aeolian Islands in Sicily. This situation could well be taking place at other tuna-fattening farms. Once the … Read more

The italian government orders the confiscation of driftnets found aboard vessels at port

The Italian Legislative Department has recently backed the new “zero tolerance” policy recently announced by Paolo de Castro, the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Fishing, declaring it illegal for vessels to carry driftnets, known as “spadare” on board. These nets have been prohibited by the EU since 2002. This decision precedes the publication of a … Read more

Hundreds of tons of swordfish caught illegally by Morocco are sold in Spain

Despite the fact that driftnets have been banned in the Mediterranean for many years, a fleet of Moroccan fishing vessels continues to use this destructive fishing gear in the Alboran Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar, setting nets up to 12 kilometres long. Oceana, the marine conservation organisation, estimates that this fleet is made up … Read more

Oceana calls for the closure of the “dirtiest” fisheries in the EU

A fleet of barely 20 fishing vessels manages to discard each year between 2,000 and 15,000 tonnes of anglerfish, generate more than 1,000 kilos of waste and “ghost nets” and overexploit stocks of anglerfish, deep-sea red crab and deep-sea sharks. Every day, more than 6,000 kilometres of fixed gillnets (known as rasco) are deployed in … Read more

The Galician Government subsidies “Monte Meixueiro”, one of the fishing vessels arrested by Norwegian patrols for illegal fishing

The detention by Norwegian patrols of two vessels flying Spanish flags, apprehended while catching Greenland halibut, has once again highlighted the wide-ranging practice of rogue fishing by companies that have received subsidies from Galician and Spanish authorities. One of the detained vessels, the Monte Meixueiro, belongs to the Vigo-based company Valiela, S.A., which has received … Read more