International & Trade

February 13, 2014 — The whaling nations of Iceland and Japan are using Canada as a trans-shipment destination in the trade of meat from endangered fin whales — the same species that Canada has agreed internationally to protect.

Canada says it is helpless to stop the trade, even though it is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which in 1981 listed the fin and other endangered whales under Appendix 1 — the highest level of protection against commercial trade.

Iceland and Japan are also signatories to the convention but did not agree to the 1981 listing, which means they are legally permitted to trade in the whale’s meat and even to use Canada as a trans-shipment destination.

“When two countries do so, like Iceland and Japan have for fin whale, Canada has to allow shipments under customs control to transit provided they meet normal documentation and other requirements,” Environment Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk said in a statement Wednesday to The Vancouver Sun.

“CITES clearly provides an exemption for shipments of CITES species in-transit through a country so long as such a shipment remains in customs control, that is, in bond or under seal.”

Norway also refused to support the CITES listing by entering what is known as a reservation.

Read the full story at The Vancouver Sun 

 

February 12, 2014 — Fisheries officials and non-goverment organisation's throughout the Pacific are in Fiji preparing to introduce historic new measures to preserve shark numbers.

Protection for a number of shark species has been promised by members of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

More than 170 countries will begin enforcing those protections by September.

Imogen Zethoven, director of global shark conservation for the Pew Charitable Trusts, told Pacific Beat overfishing remains the biggest threat to sharks, which are often caught as by-product in longline catches.

"Longline operations focus mainly on tuna but due to the significant demand in Asia for shark fin soup it is actually quiet valuable to keep sharks, particularly their fins," she said.

"Because of that value there has been a really rapid decline in a lot of the shark species throughout the Pacific and other oceans."

Read the full story at ABC Radio Australia

SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Duncan Copeland — February 11, 2014 — Coastal West African waters have the highest levels of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the world, up to half of the total catch. In Liberia, over 40 industrial fishing vessels have been investigated for IUU fishing since 2011. In Sierra Leone, 252 incidences of illegal fishing by ten industrial vessels were reported over an 18-month period up to July 2012.

Nine out of the ten of these vessels, filmed and photogaphed by the Environmental Justice Foundation, are accredited to export their catches to Europe.

West Africa supports some of the world's most productive marine and freshwater ecosystems. Up to a quarter of the region's employment is linked to the fisheries sector, and it provides essential proteins, minerals and other nutrients to the diets of millions of people.

Up to two thirds of all animal protein eaten by people in coastal West African states is fish, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

West Africa's aquatic resources are under pressure. Freshwater catches from inland lakes and rivers are being harmed by changes in land management, including deforestation, mining, and industrial farming. But the greatest impact is being felt in coastal waters.

Mismanagement, weak regulatory frameworks, a lack of enforcement, too many vessels and greed have had negative consequences for fisheries.

How many fish are caught each year and the health of fish stocks is not clear. Most countries do not have the capacity to accurately assess fishing in their waters, yet local people report reduced catches, and recent scientific assessments conclude that West African waters are overfished.

What is clear is that limited management capacity, fast-growing populations and the demands of international seafood markets have resulted in widespread illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, an array of practices known as IUU fishing.

Illegal fishing can be defined as fishing in violation of national and international laws. Unregulated fishing happens where there are inadequate legal frameworks or there is limited capacity to conduct effective controls. Unreported fishing may be legal, but occurs where catches are not reported and recorded.

In addition, marine ecosystems are damaged by destructive fishing methods ranging from the use of explosives to the widespread practice of dumping 'bycatch' – unwanted species or sizes of fish or marine species.

There are many reasons why IUU fishing occurs. In West Africa it is likely that every vessel, from the smallest canoe to the largest industrial tuna vessel, has been part of at least one aspect of IUU fishing, whether deliberately or not, at some stage of their operations.

As a result, West Africa is estimated to have the highest rates of IUU fishing globally. It has been estimated that these practices cost the region $1.3 billion a year.

But this figure does not reflect wider impacts on food security, social welfare, fish stocks, marine environmental health, endangered species or the potential of political unrest in coastal communities.

Challenges to the proper regulation of fishing in West Africa are varied and require urgent attention. Countries are weak in logistics and expertise and have limited information on fish stocks and catches.

Frequently there is a lack of clarity over which agency has jurisdiction, and when vessels are caught enforcement is often not matched by judicial penalties.

Local markets generally rely on small-scale fisheries, yet up to a quarter of fish caught in this sector are lost to poor handling, transport and storage.

Lucrative industrial catches are generally exported to Europe and Asia, though regional markets, particularly Nigeria, are increasingly important. These states have an important role to play in ensuring that they do not encourage IUU fishing.

At the regional level there are language barriers, lack of harmonization of laws, undefined maritime borders and no formal means of sharing information.

Some countries have less political will than others, which gives IUU vessels somewhere to run to. Countries with large, distant water fleets protect their vessels.

Throughout West Africa, however, corruption is the biggest barrier to fisheries management, used by foreign players to get access to fish resources and to stop prosecution of illegal fishing if it is detected.

Some progress is being made at the regional level. The willingness of many governments to cooperate is growing. Efforts are also being made to improve policy and legal frameworks and increase enforcement capacity.

Targeted international support is growing, through funding, training and the provision of seaborne and air patrols. There is also a stronger and more focused civil society and NGO sector.

In 2010, the European Union, the largest global seafood market, introduced regulations which aim to increase the traceability of catches coming from outside European waters, and allows for the 'blacklisting' of illegal fishing vessels and non-cooperative countries.

While questions remain about how far the Commission and some EU member states are enforcing all aspects of the regulation, some progress has been made on identifying non-cooperative states.

To date, three countries, including Guinea, have been listed as non-cooperative nations by the EU, which should result in seafood trade sanctions.

A further eight countries have been given a 'yellow card', giving them six months to address identified problems.

Crucially this group includes South Korea, identified for failing to control its vessels operating in West Africa, and Ghana, home of a large tuna fleet and port that heavily rely on the European market. Britain accounts for up to 60 per cent of these exports.

Concerns about illegal fishing by Ghanaian-flagged vessels have resulted in several shipments of tuna being held up or refused entry to the EU market.

In response, Ghana has had to address deficiencies in fisheries management and establish a dedicated ministry.

There is still a need for ever stronger regional cooperation, sharing of information and improved governance.

Countries should focus on securing inshore territorial waters, essential to the small-scale fishing sector and as important marine habitat.

It is also crucial that West African countries ensure that crime doesn't pay.

In 2013, Liberia charged two South Korean-owned fishing vessels $1 million each for illegal fishing, the highest fines ever charged by a West African state and an excellent step towards improved compliance by foreign industrial fishing fleets.

Duncan Copeland is a government fisheries enforcement adviser based in Liberia, as well as the West Africa Regional Coordinator for the Sea Around Us Project

This story was originally published by Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

February 6, 2014 — China’s seafood exports broke the USD 20 billion (EUR 14.7 billion) mark last year for the first time. Fisheries officials in China will be ecstatic that 2013 export of aquatic products totaled USD 20.26 billion (EUR 14.9 billion), from volume of 3.95 million metric tons (MT) — an increase of 4.15 percent and 6.74 percent respectively.

This means China keeps its place as the world’s top exporter of seafood. Yet it appears that China is also growing its imports faster. The brief note from the ministry of agriculture doesn’t give a figure for imports. Interestingly, the figure given for “total import and export of aquatic products” in 2013 is 8,129,000 MT, or USD 28.9 billion (EUR 21.3 billion), up 2.58 percent and 7.12 percent, respectively. That suggests that imports (a large percentage of which are for re-export) shaded exports in overall volume terms.

Many of China’s government departments remain on an official week-long holiday until Friday, at which point more details may become available. Published by the Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees fisheries, the data sheet seen by SeafoodSource suggests that Chinese seafood exporters are seeing a rebound in global export markets — while also cornering markets in emerging economies like Southeast Asia and Africa.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year put export value for 2012 at USD 18.5 billion (EUR 13.6 billion), up 4 percent compared to 2011, thanks largely to increased prices.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource.com

SYDNEY — February 7, 2014 — In response to the panic over shark attacks, the government of Western Australia state last month began a cull of great white, tiger and bull sharks more than nine feet long.

Chris Boyd was surfing at a secluded break on Australia’s western coast when he was attacked by a great white shark in November. The shark severed his left arm and ripped off part of his right leg. The 35-year-old died in its jaws.

The Australian plumber’s gruesome death was part of an increase in shark attacks that has terrified swimmers and triggered a deeply emotional debate in a country where the ocean is considered the national playground.

“The public is demanding that sharks, where they stay around popular swimming or surfing areas, should be destroyed,” the governor, Colin Barnett, told journalists after Boyd’s death. “I’m in that camp.”

Environmentalists and animal-rights activists are outraged by the policy, and some scientists are concerned too.

“We are never going to stop shark attacks,” said Colin Simpfendorfer, who has studied sharks for 28 years and is director of the Center for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture at James Cook University in Townsville. “Science doesn’t support the cull.”

Read the full story at The Washington Post 

 

 

 

GARITA PALMERA, El Salvador — February 5, 2014 — The saga of a fisherman who says he survived at least 13 months at sea in an open boat and made it across the Pacific Ocean to the Marshall Islands highlights the perilous and primitive fishing equipment and practices still used in Mexico, where he set out from, and in his native El Salvador.

Fishermen typically take to the sea in 27-foot open boats with no cover, no life jackets, primitive communications gear, with only a cloth wrapped around their heads for protection from the sun.

Jose Salvador Alvarenga says he spent at least 13 months drifting across 6,500 miles (10,500 kilometers) of open ocean before arriving in the Marshall Islands, the most striking such saga in recent years.

Alvarenga has told the news media he initially had a radio and a GPS locator, but both soon malfunctioned. For many fishermen, the only thing that stands between them and death on the high sea is an aging outboard motor, a wooden oar, a machete, a few plastic jugs of water — and their faith.

‘‘When one is at sea, one is in the hands of God,’’ said Manuel de Jesus Diaz, 39, who has fished from Alvarenga’s hometown of Garita Palmera for 25 years. ‘‘We go out almost without anything, our clothes to cover us from the sun and water for the voyage.’’

Read the full story by the Associated Press at The Boston Globe 

 

BRUSSELS, January 29, 2014 — EU diplomats backed a 6.5 billion euro ($8.9 billion) deal to help fishermen adapt to new rules, ending years of debate over reforms of the European Union's fishing policy aimed at ending decades of over-fishing.

The funding agreement covers the years 2014 to 2020 and is meant to fund equipment, such as new nets that allow smaller fish to escape, that could help replenish stocks.

Representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and member states agreed the deal in outline late on Tuesday as the final plank of a set of fisheries reforms that member states have been debating since 2009.

Read the full story at Reuters 

 

SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Eugene Gerden  January 30, 2014 — MOSCOW — The Russian government has officially announced that it will design new rules for veterinary clearance of domestic fish and seafood, with the aim to reduce the number of bureaucratic problems for the domestic fishermen and to create conditions for the increase of the supply of fish to the domestic market.

Fish veterinary control in Russia is usually comprised of two stages: a check of safety of the catch area and laboratory control of each batch of fish.

According to head of Russian Pollock Association German Zverev, this leads to lengthy delays and substantial financial losses of fish producers. According to his estimates, total losses and costs of the domestic fish industry associated with veterinary issue are estimated at 3.6 billion rubles (USD$100 million) per year.

German Zverev has also added that numerous Russian fishing associations have already called on the Russian government to make changes in the existing procedure of veterinary control for fish and seafood, citing the facts that at present only 5 % of the Russian fishery products can be supplied to the domestic market in one day, while for the rest the process of registration may extend up to 12 days. In the case of imported fish, the procedure usually takes one to two days.

Due to the current veterinary procedures and delays, the supplies of fish to the domestic market have been unprofitable for Russian producers. For example, Russian Sea-Dobycha, according to its data, supplied only 20% of its total catch to the domestic market.

According to Pollock Association, in order to ease the process of fish supplies to the domestic market, there is a need to abolish the current rule of the mandatory inspections of all the caught fish and seafood, and instead develop a system of sample inspections. 

At the same time, according to Russian Sea-Dobycha, the removal of unnecessary barriers would be beneficial for large fishing companies.  But it may also provide an opportunity to unscrupulous fishing companies to start production outside the permitted fishing areas.

This, in turn, could lead to an influx of low-quality products to the market, according to Russian Sea, which due to its competitive positon opposes rules making entry easier for other seafood companies. 

In the meantime, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has already  confirmed that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy has started the development of new rules of veterinary control of fish and seafood.

This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

January 27, 2014 — More than 70 participants representing 28 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Recife, Brazil, from 2 to 4 December to participate in a workshop focused on the implementation of new measures for international trade of five shark species, adopted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

To assist Latin American and Caribbean countries with implementing these new international shark trade requirements, the government of Brazil with support from the United States, the CITES Secretariat, and several partner organizations including Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society International and Species Survival Network , hosted the “Regional Workshop on Sharks Listed in Appendix II of CITES – Preparing for Implementation.” The regional workshop brought together CITES Management and Scientific authorities and fisheries experts from around the world to discuss tools and strategies available to assist countries with implementing the new international shark trade requirements. Workshop agenda and materials are available here.

“This workshop is about promoting sustainable use and trade of shark products”, said Dr. Fabio Hazin, professor at the Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Brazil. “Shark fisheries are important to many countries represented here today.

Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries

NEW YORK — Jan. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced the launch of the Vibrant Oceans initiative, a commitment of $53 million over five years to promote reforms to boost fish populations in Brazil, the Philippines and Chile. Currently, over-fishing and destruction of important marine areas are threatening the global supply of fish. Reforming fishing practices in these countries will revitalize 7% of the world's fisheries and will potentially serve as a model for future global reform efforts by providing insights into the best ways to protect the world's fish supply.

The grant is also the largest philanthropic commitment to internationally reform fisheries management to date and is the first time that a private capital financing strategy will be integrated into such a reform effort.

"At Bloomberg Philanthropies, we look for opportunities to address unmet needs with proven solutions that improve the greatest number of lives. While billions of people depend on fish for food or income, only 13% of the world's fisheries are safe from being over-fished, presenting serious environmental and public health challenges," said Michael R. Bloomberg, philanthropist and 108th Mayor of New York City. "Data shows the world's severely threatened fish populations can rebound if fishing is properly managed. The investment we are making now will help bring more life back to our oceans – and protect them for future generations."

"If we don't act now to protect our world's oceans from over-fishing, we risk jeopardizing a vital source of food and income for billions of people – and permanently damaging a marine ecosystem that sustains so many species, including our own," says Paul Greenberg author of the New York Times bestseller Four Fish and the forthcoming American Catch. "Even though we are fishing more and using advanced technologies, the amount of fish caught has declined nearly 8% since the 1990s and demand for fish is projected to rise 20% by 2030."

To revitalize the world's declining supply of fish, the Vibrant Oceans initiative is applying a groundbreaking approach to fisheries management.  It is the first effort to simultaneously target small scale, near-shore fishing (within 10 nautical miles of shore) and industrial, far-shore fishing (which takes place in the next 190 nautical miles). While both kinds of fisheries are largely depleted and in need of reform, previous efforts to reform fishing generally concentrated on one or the other.

Read the full release here