New Report on Illegal Fishing

19 October, 2009. A new report 'Lowering the Flag' on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has been released by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF). FIELD contributed the legal analysis to the report, which highlights the need to end the practice of granting Flags of Convenience to fishing vessels as crucial in the international efforts to combat IUU fishing.

Many nations operate 'open registries' that essentially sell their flag to foreign-owned fishing vessels, allowing operators to reduce operating costs and hiding their beneficial owners. The EJF report published in collaboration with FIELD and the Mauritius based NGO Kalipso, calls for urgent action towards a global ban on the use of Flags of Convenience (FoC) by fishing vessels. It also features an economic assessment showing that FoC States accrue tiny amounts of revenue when compared to the billions lost each year to IUU fishing. The report is part of a wider campaign to eliminate open registries for fishing and support vessels.

Joy Hyvarinen, Director of FIELD, says: "International law, as it stands today, is insufficient to address the use of Flags of Convenience by illegal fishing operations. States need to take urgent action to tackle these destructive operations."

Download the full report: Lowering the flag

Read the report's press release, or learn more about IUU fishing.