Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 4 • 2nd March 2007

New Report Highlights Trade-Related Measures for Fisheries Management

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Conservation organisation TRAFFIC recently released a report calling for effective management of fisheries in order to safeguard their future health and survival.

Entitled “Catching On? Trade-Related Measures as a Fisheries Management Tool,” the report focuses on trade-related measures taken by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). The measures examined include the use of documentation to authenticate the legality of catches, as well as the creation of “white” and “black” lists of vessels in order to identify those that comply — or fail to comply — with regulations. The report also considers the use of trade bans on states that do not implement conservation and management measures.

In terms of useful actions, the report recommends the installation of satellite tracking of vessels to monitor their position and fishing activities. It further recommends the use of Catch Documentation Schemes (CDS), which provide data on legitimate fish landings, “allowing sustainable quota levels to be set, and even provide insights into the levels of illegal trade.”

According to TRAFFIC’s Glenn Sant, “Systematic use of trade-related measures is effective. A combination of catch documentation, vessel monitoring, on-board observers, controls on transshipment and where vessels land and sell their catch do work. What it needs is the political will and adequate resources to ensure these measures are put in place.”

The report was released in advance of a meeting of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Committee on Fisheries, to be held on Rome from 5-9 March.

Additional resources

The report “Catching On? Trade-Related Measures as a Fisheries Management Tool,” can be downloaded at http://www.traffic.org/content/833.pdf

“Fisheries not catching on,” TRAFFIC RELEASE, 1 March 2007.