The Second Global Fisheries Enforcement Training Workshop

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the Second Global Fisheries Enforcement training workshop! It is with great pleasure I see that this forum for cooperation and exchange of ideas is being continued in the shape of a new workshop. The first one was successfully held in Kuala Lumpur and I hope the second will be as productive as the Malaysian one.

As you know, the workshop forms part of the work of the MCS Network. The MCS Network was established to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fisheries-related MCS activities. One of the keys to the combating of IUU fishing and especially the transnational aspect of IUU fishing is information-sharing and cooperation across national borders. The diversity of participants from all the continents of the world really proves that it is possible to cooperate and leave differences aside. In the fight against IUU fishing, we all have the same objective. We want our children and grandchildren to experience and enjoy the richness and diversity of living marine resources. As representatives of governments, we also want the revenues derived from fisheries resources to benefit the general welfare of our respective countries. In other words, we cannot, and will not, accept the looting of our future food and income for a few individuals' personal gain at the expense of our societies' need for food and economic security. The fight against IUU fishing is therefore important and must not be taken lightly.

The effects of IUU fishing on coastal states and communities can be seen throughout the world. Developing countries are especially hurt, since IUU fishing deprives these communities of an important opportunity to develop their economies. Markets, small and large, are highly affected by the availability of IUU catch.
IUU fishing leads to higher fish mortality, and quotas for regulated fishing are consequently reduced - legal fishing is hurt, as are employment prospects in coastal communities.

For us in the stewardship role, IUU fishing makes effective regulation very difficult, and it undermines sustainable management.
Perhaps worst are the long-term effects on ecosystems, with the ultimate result of IUU fishing being a complete collapse of fish stocks. Experience shows us that once a stock collapses, we have no guarantee that it will ever recover.

In my view, there are three main challenges that must be met in order to produce reductions in IUU fishing. For the sake of simplicity, we can divide these into flag state, coastal state, and port and market state issues.

These challenges illustrate both the complexity of the IUU fishing issue and why there has never been a quick fix to solve the problem.

Firstly, flag states must ensure that their vessels comply with the aims of sustainable and responsible fishing, including distant-fishing and fishing in international waters. According to the law of the sea, the flag state bears the primary responsibility for regulating their vessels in international waters. The use of flags of convenience undermines this principle in the fisheries. By web or fax, a vessel's master or owner today can change the flag of the vessel in a matter of hours (although this is forbidden in open waters under international law).

Secondly, any coastal state must regulate, monitor and enforce the rules of fishing within its jurisdiction. In addition, coastal states must take responsibility for cooperating with other coastal states in adjacent international waters.

Thirdly, all port states must verify the legality of fish cargo that is to be landed in their ports. By demanding such verification from the captain of the vessel and the flag state, landing of illegally caught fish will be made more difficult. Such measures were implemented in the North East Atlantic last year, with great success.
Lastly, all states that import fish and fish products must demand similar documentation from exporters so that exporters are required to document that their products have been harvested from legal fishing.

From the brief outline above, it might still not be evident why governments have not been universally successful in stopping IUU fishing.
To grasp the problem, we must look at IUU operators as rational actors that utilize all available loopholes in national jurisdictions and international regimes, and take advantage of lacking governance capabilities.

When discussing the topic of IUU fishing, we tend to think about our own resources without having a global view of the problem. Norway, in cooperation with a number of other countries, managed to reduce IUU fishing of cod in the Barents Sea by 50% from 2006 to 2007. Intensified MCS activity and the application of NEAFC's regime of Port State Measures have undoubtedly contributed to this decrease. Some of the effects of this reduction will have a long-term benefit; many IUU vessels have been scrapped and IUU fishing is less cost-effective for the operators involved.

However, we have indications that the organised groups operating in these waters are changing their operational patterns. For example, we have seen that these vessels are now operating more often in the West African area, in the Black Sea and other parts of the world. In other words, some IUU vessels did not disappear but rather moved their destructive activity elsewhere.

Cooperating with port states has been given high priority. First, we concentrated on working with the port states of North-Western Europe where most IUU cod landings from the Barents Sea took place. This produced results since a number of vessels were shown to be involved in illegal activity. The IUU vessels then went to Southern Europe to land their cargoes. We accordingly extended our cooperation with Southern European countries and the states in the eastern Baltic. The next step was to cooperate with port states in North Africa and Asia, thus depriving many IUU vessels from landing there.

In tandem with such bilateral cooperation, the laborious task of building an international regime of Port State Measures in the fisheries began. Again, our initial effort was in the North East Atlantic, where, from 1 May 2007, the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) introduced a robust scheme for Port State Measures. This has been a tremendous success, since no vessel today can land frozen fish in any port in the convention area without verification of legality by the flag state.

Port State Measures have often been called the last resort to marine problems, since vessels ultimately are dependent upon access to port for landing and logistical services. In this respect, it is a cost-effective approach. Through NEAFC's new enforcement control scheme we have changed the rules of the game. How the IUU networks will organise in the future is unclear. But we do believe that the cross-border cooperation demonstrated by the NEAFC countries must be a potential tool for other regions of the world too. This is why Norway supports the work on a global regime for Port State Measures in the fisheries. Establishing a global legal framework which effectively closes the ports to vessels involved in IUU fishing, will be a very powerful and important measure against this activity.

In this context, I also welcome the initiative taken by the EU to stop IUU fish from entering its markets through the new EU regulation establishing a Community-wide system to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing.

Developing states are affected the most by IUU fishing. We believe that we  have a duty to support all countries in the fight against this activity. Keeping in mind that large-scale and organised IUU fishing is operated through transnational criminal networks, we believe that by helping others, we are participating in a global effort which is beneficial for all coastal states involved. Against this background, Norway has established close ties with North and West African countries. The global scope of the activity makes it necessary to join forces and cooperate across boundaries and between continents.

There are many issues to address in the context of IUU fishing. The wide range of topics in this workshop illustrates that fact. I believe that this seminar is an important step towards a unified and global mutual effort in combating this serious and highly destructive activity.

And with these words, I would like to declare the Second Global Fisheries Enforcement Training Workshop opened.

Thank you for your attention, and good luck with the workshop!