Weak flagging standards attract illegal foreign fishing

Africa's weak flagging standards continue to attract high-risk fishing operators, depriving governments of a revenue source and further contributing to the declining per capita fish consumption in the continent, a new report has found.

Titled "Spotlight On: The Use of African Flag Registries by High-Risk Operators", the report said maritime governance and limited fishery enforcement capacity across Africa, combined with the relative health of African fisheries, makes the continent an ideal venue for high-risk fishing operators to test a variety of tactics for evading accountability.

High-risk fishing consists of operations at risk of being illegal, unreported and unregulated. This is in addition to unsustainable, destructive fishing practices, or those involving broader forms of associated crimes.

The report published on Thursday by Trygg Mat Tracking and I.R. Consilium, international maritime intelligence organizations, said 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 practices are particularly acute in Africa, where some fishing vessel owners and operators exploit African flags to escape effective oversight and to fish unsustainably and illegally both in sovereign African waters and in areas beyond national jurisdiction," the report said.

The report said a majority of African coastal states have flagged fishing vessels that have gone on to conduct illegal fishing activities as identified through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing listings or domestic information sources.

Ensuring high-risk fishing operations and vessels are excluded from national flags is a critical step to securing the continent's waters for the legitimate and sustainable enrichment of coastal states, the report continued.

Researchers said while African states can exert control over their own open vessel registries, only an international effort will help curtail the use of foreign open vessel registries to facilitate the conduct of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations in the continent and beyond.

"Every fishing vessel needs to have a flag, and every flag state needs to effectively manage those fishing vessels," said Duncan Copeland, executive director at Trygg Mat Tracking.

"Ensuring that high-risk fishing operators and vessels cannot enter a flag registry or fishing grounds is one of the simplest and cost-effective steps that any nation can take to reduce the risk of illegal fishing, unsustainable fishing practices and reputational damage."