A report published today by international maritime intelligence organisations TMT (www.TM-Tracking.org) and I.R.
The global fishing market is projected to be worth
Challenges with maritime governance and limited fisheries enforcement capacity across the continent of
While concerns have been raised and discussed for many years about the ‘genuine link’ between the flag state and the beneficial owners and/or operators of vessels, broader flag-related concerns continue to emerge around fishing vessels that indicate a growing relationship between the flag of the vessel and high-risk fishing practices. These practises are particularly acute in
The report examines two distinct high-risk flagging processes: 1) ‘flags of convenience’, the use of African open registries to fish in waters beyond the national jurisdiction of African nations, and 2) ‘flagging-in’, the use and abuse of various local rules to flag a foreign-owned and operated vessel into a domestic African registry to fish in African waters. Both these processes afford high-risk foreign fishing operators the opportunity to more easily fish illegally and unsustainably, which in turn undermines the sovereign rights of coastal African States.
The report identifies that the majority of African coastal States have flagged fishing vessels that have gone on to conduct illegal fishing activities, as identified through IUU listings or domestic information sources. Several case studies are provided that offer insight into how high-risk fishing operators are benefitting from their access to African flags.
As
The good news is that for any State facing these challenges and that cares about its sovereignty and reputation, there are several ways to curtail opportunities for high-risk actors to appropriate and subsequently misuse its flag, including:
Ensuring an inter-agency approach is taken on all fishing vessel flagging decisions is crucial to ensuring that vessels that are flagged can be effectively managed, receive proper oversight, and can be incorporated into national fisheries management plans. Ensuring that effective due diligence is carried out on all flagging applications. Closing open vessel registries to fishing vessels. Strengthening oversight of private company involvement in open vessel registries as many of the private companies that manage open registries are entitled to make decisions without any or very limited consultation with the actual flag state. De-flagging bad actors to avoid reputational harm and to show a commitment to the rule of law. African flag registries should de-flag all vessels known to be associated with or engaged in IUU fishing and refuse flags to any such vessels that apply. Strengthening application and compliance requirements, particularly for open registries as a way of showing shared commitment to defending African sovereignty. Establishing and enforcing flag state penalties to avoid tarnishing the reputation of their State by the owners’ vessels engaging in illicit activity. Creating communication and cooperation channels with beneficial ownership states to assist in determining the risk associated with a vessel during the decision on whether to flag it or not, or in cases where enforcement actions are required.
International oversight from experts and operators from around the world is needed to tackle open vessel registry exploitation and continually identify and expose the new tactics being used to pursue impunity. While African States can exert control over their own open vessel registries, only an international effort will help to curtail the use of foreign open vessel registries to facilitate the conduct of IUU fishing operations in
Dr.
The full report Spotlight on On: The Use of African Flag Registries by High-Risk Operators - is available in French and English from www.TM-Tracking.org
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Editor Notes:
Images: © TM-Tracking available here via dropbox https://bit.ly/3kjNA5z
Spotlight On: The Use of African Flag Registries by High-Risk Operators
Report PDF in English - https://bit.ly/3LrUJgc
Report PDF en Francais - https://bit.ly/37JnuXg
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About TMT:
TMT is a Norwegian non-profit organisation that provides national fisheries authorities and international organisations with fisheries intelligence, analysis, and capacity building, targeting a reduction of illegal fishing and broader improvements in ocean governance.www.TM-Tracking.org
About I.R.
I.R.
https://IRConsilium.com/
Spotlight On: The Use of African Flag Registries by High-Risk Operators is the second Spotlight brief to be published by TMT. The Spotlight briefs are developed by TMT and its partners to shine a light on the operational practices, legal loopholes and enforcement gaps that can be and are exploited by illegal fishing operators to access fishing resources, ports and markets, and to evade sanctions. Each Spotlight showcases scenarios based on the analysis of actual operations and illegal fishing cases, utilising TMT’s extensive field experience tackling illegal fishing and associated crime internationally. Developed to support all maritime and fisheries stakeholders, each Spotlight briefing gets to the heart of the issues, exposing where risks lie in fisheries operations towards closing enforcement gaps and increasing transparency in global fisheries.
The first Spotlight briefing examined The Exploitation of Company Structures by Illegal Fishing Operators - https://bit.ly/3xXU7v1
© African Press Organization, source