For the first time, the countries that endorsed the UN Treaty to combat illegal fishing are meeting in in Oslo (Norway) to discuss how to make it a success.
Participants are from the more than 46 countries that have endorsed the ‘Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA).
Adopted as an FAO Agreement in 2009 after a years-long diplomatic effort, the PSMA is the first ever binding international treaty that focuses specifically on illicit fishing.
The main purpose of the Agreement is to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing through the implementation of robust port State measures.
The Agreement envisages that parties, in their capacities as port States, will apply the Agreement in an effective manner to foreign vessels when seeking entry to ports or while they are in port.
The Agreement is binding and stipulates minimum port States measures. However, countries are free to adopt more stringent measures than those outlined in the Agreement.
Parties to the PSMA currently account for more than two-thirds of the global fish trade and range from Albania, Cuba and Palau, to Indonesia and the United States.
Japan – one of the world’s largest fish importers – and Montenegro will become full parties next month.
IIU fishing amounts to up to 26 million tonnes worth $23 billion a year. The practice is considered so harmful that is it explicitly listed in the Sustainable Development Goals. The international community aims to end the practice by 2020.
According to FAO, parties to the PSMA are obliged to implement a number of measures while managing ports under their control, with the goals of detecting illegal fishing, stopping ill-caught fish from being offloaded and sold, and ensuring information on unscrupulous vessels is shared globally.
These include requiring foreign fishing vessels wishing to enter ports to request permission in advance, and transmitting detailed information on their identities, activities, and the fish they have onboard.
Ships suspected of being involved in IUU fishing can be denied entry into port outright; permitted to enter for inspection purposes only; or permitted to enter but refused permission to offload fish, refuel, or resupply.