Fishing: action plan for the eradication of illegal, undeclarated and unregulated fishing

PURPOSE : to present Community action plan for the eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. CONTENT : the control of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the international community's priorities for action to ensure the sustainability of fisheries worldwide. The European Community has played an active role in drawing up the international plan of action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The plan, which was prepared by the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) within the framework of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, was endorsed by the FAO Council on 23 June 2001. In accordance with the commitments it has given, the European Community must now adopt the measures needed to implement the plan agreed at international level in the Community. As Community rules in this area/on this matter are already relatively developed, the aim of this working paper is not to draw up a list of the resources available for controlling IUU fishing. Instead, new measures or initiatives need to be identified that should be undertaken under Community rules, in the context of regional fisheries organisations, or by international multilateral organisations in order to achieve that goal. To fight illegal fishing and ensure sustainable fisheries beyond EU waters, the Commission is putting forward an action plan to - strengthen and complete the international legal order with a view to eliminating both the use of flag-of-convenience vessels and the practice of landings in ports without proper controls; - improve the evaluation of stocks that are accessible to EU fishermen outside EU waters; - obtain better scientific advice on the state of the stocks before concluding new partnership agreements with the third countries concerned and to - reform the EU framework for control of fishing activities outside EU waters.�