IUU Fishing Archives

Mediterranean fisheries management meeting concludes without adopting any management measures

Inaction of decision makers and open access fisheries, called to question by Oceana. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) closed its 35th Session in Rome on Saturday. According to recent scientific advice, 22 of 23 Mediterranean stocks are overexploited, including highly valuable commercial species like red shrimp (Aristeus antennatus), hake (Merluccius merluccius) and … Read more

Oceana demands a transparent and conclusive process from Morocco to eliminate driftnets

Oceana celebrates the step forward taken by Moroccan authorities to comply with international legislation and demands that the process of eliminating driftnets be transparent and conclusive. For years Oceana has documented and lodged complaints about the presence of these illegal nets in ports such as Tangier, Nador and Al Hoceima, for the fishing of swordfish, … Read more

Biodiversity Summit week 1 recap

The Biodiversity Summit in Japan is kicking off week 2 and we thought we’d give you a recap with some highlights and news stories from last week. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity released a report highlighted the enourmous (but necessary) cost of altering the global economy to put value on forests, reefs and other … Read more

IUU Fishing: News & Reports

IUU Fishing: Achievements

For years, Oceana has been reporting the use of illegal driftnets in the Mediterranean. Thanks to the organisation’s work, drift nets have been eliminated in the French fleet and the European Commission has had to take measures against Italian drift netters. The European Commission, and in particular Spain, collaborates with Morocco to convert the Moroccan … Read more

IUU Fishing: What Oceana Does

Oceana works against IUU fishing on three fronts: Oceana on board. During our campaigns on board the Oceana Ranger, we locate and film illegal fishing activities and inform authorities so they can act. This is evidence of the lack of existing control measures. Oceana reports. The information we collect during our campaigns allows us to … Read more

Halting IUU fishing: enforcing international fisheries agreements

The world’s fisheries are in crisis. Experts report that 75% are significantly depleted, overexploited or fully exploited. Behind these statistics are the stories of countless families whose livelihoods have been destroyed as the once-bountiful resources of the oceans have dwindled. Governments generally recognise that there is little time left to act decisively to reverse the … Read more

The use of driftnets: a scandal for Europe, a mockery of the United Nations

At a meeting in June 1998, the European Union’s Council of Fisheries’ Ministers passed a Regulation aimed at prohibiting the use of driftnets for part of the European fleet; a regulation that was to come into force on 1 January 2002. At that time, some 670 Italian, 70 French and about 30 British and Irish … Read more

Oceana satisfied with the arrest of three owners of illegal drifnetters in Southern Italy

Oceana is satisfied with the arrest of three captains and shipowners in the Italian port of Bagnara Calabra for their use of illegal driftnets. The accused are under house arrest thanks to the proceedings begun by the Prosecutor’s Office of Calabria as a result of a documentary aired by Italian TV channel RAI 3 on … Read more

Oceana denounces Spanish owned pirate fishing vessel and asks for tough measures against IUU fishing

Oceana has documented and urged action by the Spanish government against the IUU fishing vessel “Furabolos” (IMO 8604668), now named “Eros 2”, and flying a Panama flag, currently in the port of Santa Eugenia de Ribeira in Galicia, Spain. IUU means “illegal, unreported and unregulated” fishing and it is a major contributor to overfishing and … Read more