Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a tracking system that automatically transmits a vessel’s identity, speed and GPS location. This factsheet explains how the Automatic Identification System (AIS) works and why it’s essential for monitoring global fishing activity. AIS increases transparency at sea by broadcasting a vessel’s identity, location, and speed, helping deter illegal fishing and … Read more
Despite being an invaluable resource for human livelihoods, the ocean is under immense pressure with growing threats hitting from multiple fronts. Overfishing, illegal fishing, marine habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution all disrupt the delicate balance needed to preserve aquatic ecosystems, and with it the livelihood of coastal communities, especially artisanal fishers who depend on … Read more
Ahead of a key negotiating meeting scheduled for the 21st of June, key Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the EU Fisheries Control Coalition call on the Member States to be ambitious in requiring the installation of vessel tracking systems for all EU fishing vessels, as well as cameras on vessels at high risk … Read more
In January 2018, the EU introduced a more stringent legal framework for the control of EU vessels fishing in non-EU waters, in the form of the EU Regulation on the sustainable management of external fishing fleets (SMEFF Regulation),1 which replaced and repealed the Fishing Authorisation Regulation (FAR).2 The new regulation addressed loopholes in transparency and … Read more
The EU has addressed loopholes that previously allowed its fishing vessels to rapidly and frequently change flags to evade fisheries laws, a new assessment by the EU IUU Fishing Coalition* has found. The work evaluates the effectiveness of the Sustainable Management of External Fishing Fleets (SMEFF) Regulation – an EU law adopted in 2018 for … Read more
The European Union’s Regulation establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a world-leading legal instrument designed to stop the flow of IUU-caught fish entering the EU market. One key component of the so-called ‘IUU Regulation’ is the EU’s cooperation and ongoing dialogues with third countries, through … Read more
Insurance company Hydor has ended its contract with a fleet of vessels that were discovered fishing illegally across the Atlantic by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). Without insurance, the fleet operators are at risk of severe financial losses. Oceana, who worked with EJF to warn Hydor about its unwitting association with an illegal fleet, says … Read more
Brest, France — As heads of state come together for the One Ocean Summit in France, NGOs from across the United States, European Union, and Japan, are calling on their nations – which combined account for more than 55% of all the seafood traded internationally – to prioritize policies to end illegal, unreported, and unregulated … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
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