Stop Illegal Fishing Case Study Series 7 - International MCS Network

landing of catch and port services to the vessel.• Pew Charitable Trusts: through their End IllegalFishing Project provides nancial and technicalsupport to FISH-i Africa and supported the TaskForce’s engagement in this case.• FISH-i Africa partners: including the IOTC,the Indian Ocean Commission’s SmartFISHprogramme and others provided advice andinformation to the Task Force.• International organisations and media: supportedthis case through their media campaigns, protestsand investigations into Premier’s owners, puttingfurther pressure on the owners.• Market states and the legitimate industry: sent aclear message to all that they did not want to haveany association with potentially illegal sh.Next stepsIn order to facilitate further continental cooperation,future efforts should focus on:• Strengthening of the FISH-i Africa Task Forceand extending its reach to West Africa andstrengthening Stop Illegal Fishing to provide thefacilitation to maintain the FISH-i network.• Strengthening partnerships between Africangovernments and investigative units such asInterpol (through their SCALE 4 project) and TryggMat (through their Analytical Unit) in order tosupport improved national and pan-Africanintelligence to ght IUU shing.• Negotiating a policy statement in respect to illegalshing for West African countries that includes aframework for cooperation in sheries MCS andlaw enforcement.Policy implications• In order to make illegal shing unprotableAfrican countries must continue to denyillegal operators access to shing grounds andport services.• Ratifying and implementing agreementson shery related issues and implementingRFMOs’ resolutions is important to facilitatenational actions against IUU shing operators.• Transparency in sheries governance can beincreased, for example through publishingvessel licence and registration lists, licensingprocedures, sheries agreements andinformation on IUU shing cases togetherwith settlement agreements and court rulings.• A mechanism to facilitate national, regionaland international collaboration andinformation exchange, including betweencoastal, ag, port and market States, inrelation to evidence gathering, investigations,arrests and prosecutions in shery cases isrequired.• National, regional and internationalcollaboration between shery, police,customs, ports, immigration and taxauthorities to investigate and prosecuteassociated crimes such as corruption, fraud,money laundering, tax evasion and humantrafcking.• Establishing robust and coherent catchtraceability systems in cooperation withmarket states will assist in stopping illegalshing and ensuring market access for legalAfrican sh.Further informationPartnershipfor AfricanFisheriesNEPAD ProgrammeA NEPAD ProgrammeNEPAD Planning and Coordination AgencyEmail: info@nepad.orgWebsite: www.nepad.orgPartnership for African FisheriesEmail: sloansc@nepad.orgWebsite: www.africansheries.orgPew Charitable TrustsEmail: kristin@kistowski.deWebsite: www.pewtrusts.orgAcknowledgementsThis case study was researched and prepared by the Stop IllegalFishing Coordination Team – Per Erik Bergh, Philippe Cacaud,Sandy Davies, Michael Fitt, and Mark Ssemakula, with inputfrom: Gunnar Album, Said Boina, Manuel Castiano, Roy Clarisse,Duncan Copeland, Gerard Domingue, Peter Flewwelling, FlorianGiroux, Zahor El Kharousy, Kristin von Kistowski, Marcel Kroese,Pierre Malan, Nicholas Mwanza Ntheketa and DaroomalingumMauree. Photographs and graphics are courtesy of: GunnarAlbum, Per Erik Bergh and Marcel Kroese.Trygg Mat FoundationEmail: info@tryggmat.noWebsite: www.tryggmat.noNFDS AfricaEmail: nfds@nfds.infoWebsite: www.nfds.infoFootnotes1www.fao.org/shery/statistics/tuna-catches/en, http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/ap939e/ap939e.pdf2http://www.iotc.org/les/CMM/Resolution%2010-11.pdf3www.liberiasheries.net4http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-crime/Projects/Project-ScaleStop Illegal FishingEmail: pct@stopillegalfishing.comWebsite: www.stopillegalfishing.com