A report on iUU fishing of Baltic Sea cod - Fisheries Secretariat

Executive summaryThe cod fisheries in the Baltic Sea have gainednotoriety for non-compliance with fisheriesregulations. This is commonly referred to as illegal,un<strong>report</strong>ed and unregulated fishing or IUUfishing. IUU fishing is seen as the major contributorto the unsustainable exploitation of the codstocks, particularly in the Eastern Baltic Sea, somuch so that this stock is now threatened withcollapse.This <strong>report</strong> is divided into two parts. The firstdescribes the results of the literature search andpresents the views expressed by participants ofthe informal meetings/interviews. The secondpart provides a summary of the policy and regulatoryframeworks that are in place and providethe basis for Member States to implement Europeanfisheries policy.Published informationLimited literature is available that describesor quantifies the IUU fishing within the Balticregion. The International Council for the Explorationof the Sea (ICES) has attempted to takeaccount of the quantities of un<strong>report</strong>ed landingswithin its fisheries assessment advice to the EuropeanCommission. Using a variety of sourcesthat includes fishermen, fisheries inspectors andfirst-hand observations by fisheries scientists, itis estimated that in the Eastern Baltic, 35-45%more cod is landed than <strong>report</strong>ed.Other recent <strong>report</strong>s and news articles suggestthat possibly even larger quantities are landed.However, owing to the clandestine nature ofthe activity it is not possible to confirm withoutdoubt what the quantities might be.IUU fishing activitiesIn discussions with a broad section of individualswith an active interest in the cod fishery tenforms of IUU activity were cited. There was aconsensus view that un<strong>report</strong>ed landings werethe most significant IUU fishing activity. Theseappear to be more prevalent at different timesof the year, from year to year and within certainfleet sectors, such as trawl and gillnet fisheries.For example, tighter quota restrictions wouldlikely lead to increases in unrecorded landings;area closures would coincide with apparentfailures in VMS; and, a strong year class enteringthe fishery could result in increased landings ofundersize cod.Poland was seen by many as the “bad boy” inthe Baltic, but those Member States that have thelion-share of the total allowable catch were alsoimplicated.The cause of IUU fishingIn simple terms, the cause of IUU fishing wasdescribed as a function of fleet overcapacity, decliningquotas, an inability to effectively monitorand control the fisheries, high consumer demandand high economic value. In part or as a whole,these create an added incentive to fish.Further detailed analysis offered by a Danishstudy concluded that the following are all factorsthat influence compliance:• the likely economic gains to be had fromcheating;• the risks of being detected and the severity ofthe sanction;• compatibility between the content of fishingregulations and fishing patterns/practices;• long-term non-compliant behaviour becomes‘normal’ behaviour such that moral standardsare affected.How to reduce IUU fishingReducing fleet capacity was seen as an importantfactor that would likely reduce IUU fishing. Somefishing industry representatives from the ‘older’Member States considered that their nationalfleet capacities are more in line with their quotasand that this balance needs to be quickly– –