New Report 'Lowering the Flag on Pirate Fishing'

The report by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), in collaboration with the Foundation for International Law and Development (FIELD) and Kalipso, calls for urgent action towards a global ban on the use of Flags of Convenience by fishing vessels.

Click here to download the full report: Lowering the Flag

Findings published today by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and partners expose a major loophole in international law that is being exploited by illegal 'pirate' fishing operations.

The new report 'Lowering the Flag' highlights how some nations operate 'open registries' that essentially sell their flag to foreign-owned fishing vessels. Known as Flags of Convenience (FoC), open registries directly contribute to the ability of IUU fishing vessels to operate, with devastating consequences for marine environments and developing countries.

EJF Executive Director, Steve Trent: "Pirate fishing, driven by a growing unsustainable global demand for seafood, is now threatening the future of world fisheries. There are profound social, economic, and environmental impacts arising from pirate fishing operators who are stealing from some of the poorest and most vulnerable on our planet, while devastating marine environments and undermining the sustainability of vital fisheries. But it is in our power to stop these pirates and central to the steps we can take is a ban on Flags of Convenience."

• Evidence to prove that countries which offer FoC are either unable or unwilling to fulfil their obligations under international law to monitor and control fishing vessels, ensuring they abide by regulations.
• Exposes how FoC are easy, quick and cheap to acquire, obtainable over the internet for just a few hundred dollars and how vessels can re-flag and change names several times in a season to avoid detection and controls, a practice known as "flag hopping". Shows how FoC registries reduce the operating costs associated with legal fishing, and make it extremely difficult to identify and penalise the real owners of vessels that fish illegally.
• Documents 1,061 fishing vessels currently registered with FoC. A further 8.5% of fishing vessels globally are listed as 'flag unknown', identifying that some of these are flying FoC.
• Highlights that Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) blacklists of IUU vessels are dominated by those registered to FoC or flag unknown.
• Documents how refrigerated seafood transport vessels (known as 'reefers') flying FoC have been widely implicated in IUU fishing operations.
• Provides detailed evidence gathered during investigations conducted by EJF in West Africa to show that nearly all pirate fishing reefers were flying FoC. Reefers allow pirate fishing vessels to tranship their catches, restock on food and bait, refuel and re-crew without having to make the lengthy and costly journey to port. 700 reefers are currently registered with FoC.
• Reveals that European Union (EU) and East Asian companies dominate the ownership of FoC vessels. Taiwanese, South Korean, Chinese and Japanese companies are significant; EU ownership of fishing vessels flying FoC has increased by 9% since 2005.
• Calculates that the economic benefits to FoC states of registering fisheries vessels are minimal. Annual revenues from flagging fishing vessels are estimated to accrue only US$3-4 million to the major FoC registries, a tiny amount when compared to the millions of dollars lost by individual countries and the US$10-24 billion estimated to be lost globally to IUU fishing.
• Highlights how FoC States will be affected by new regulations targeting non-cooperative fishing states. These could lead to fisheries trade sanctions, leaving FoC countries dependent on domestic fisheries exports extremely vulnerable to losing access to important seafood markets.
• Notes that in light of the current crisis facing global fisheries, failure to end the exploitation of FoC by IUU fishing operations will undermine efforts to achieve sustainable fisheries management, marine ecological security and the development of many, primarily developing, coastal states.

Click here to download the full report: Lowering the Flag

EJF's Senior Campaigner, Duncan Copeland: "Flag of Convenience States and the international community have a clear responsibility to end the use of Flags of Convenience by Pirate Fishing vessels. Individual countries should immediately de-list and shut their registries to foreign-owned fishing vessels. Bodies such as the European Union, Commonwealth and the United Nations need to work towards the development of an international binding treaty that clearly establishes the responsibilities of Flag States in regards to fishing vessels, including a ban on flagging those that cannot demonstrate a genuine link to the country."

Joy Hyvarinen, Director of FIELD, added: "International law, as it stands today, is insufficient to address the use of Flags of Convenience by illegal fishing operations. States need to take urgent action to tackle these destructive operations."

High quality film and photographs available on request.

Click here to download the full report: Lowering the Flag

Further information available from:
Steve Trent: steve.trent@ejfoundation.org +44 (0)797 492 5659
Duncan Copeland: duncan.copeland@ejfoundation.org + 44 (0)207 239 3310

• Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) or 'pirate' fishing is plundering fish stocks, devastating marine environments and stealing from some of the poorest people of the world. IUU is the term given to any fishing activity that contravenes national or international laws, such as using banned fishing gears; targeting protected species; operating in protected or reserved areas or at times when fishing is prohibited; or operating without any form of permit or license to fish. IUU fishing vessels cut costs to maximise profits and use a variety of means, including 'flags of convenience' to avoid detection and penalty for wrongdoing.
  
• During the 1970s, the United States passed regulations requiring vessels fishing for tuna to put measures into place to prevent the killing of dolphins. Between 1981 and 1985, thirty-four ships were reflagged to other countries where they would no longer be bound by these regulations, and thus carried on using techniques dangerous to marine mammals. This is the same technique used today vessels seeking to evade fisheries control measures.
  
• Franz Fischler, former EU Commissioner for Fisheries, has said that 'Flags of convenience are the scourge of today's maritime world. This practice affects both fisheries and transport, although oil spills, given their spectacular dimension, mobilise public opinion more easily than the pernicious damage done to the marine environment by fishing vessels.'
  
• Flag states - the countries that issue the flags that all maritime vessels are required to fly - are responsible for enforcing a range of international rules and standards on marine environment protection against vessels listed in their registry. The key premise is that the flag state is primarily responsible for ensuring that all vessels within its registry abide by the rules, and administer penalties whenever there are violations. However, while the flag of a vessel certifies its nationality, it does not necessarily identify the nationality of the vessel's owner - making the enforcement of laws designed to protect the maritime environment extremely problematic.
  
• In general, FoC States operate 'open registries' that allow foreign-owned vessels to fly their flag; around 44 registries have been recognised by a variety of bodies as operating an open registry, and can therefore be identified as FoC. Fisheries vessels constitute a minority of the total vessels registered to FoC, estimated at between 7-15% of the global total.
  
• Vessels that fish illegally do so to minimize costs associated with legal fishing methods. Lack of official licenses and proper safety equipment, unsanitary conditions and appalling crew conditions have all been documented by EJF aboard vessels observed conducting IUU fishing activities.
  
• There are a variety of international agreements that are supposed to govern the activities of fishing vessels. Most are either voluntary or have not been ratified, and are therefore not in effect. Both the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) are binding agreements, but are not detailed enough in their scope. In addition not all nations are signatories, and many of those that are have poor implementation and enforcement records.
  
• The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that 80% of the world's fish stocks are fully or overexploited. The high demand for seafood in places like Europe and the Far East is driving the theft and potential collapse of fisheries resources. It has been estimated that IUU (Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated) fishing, also known as 'pirate' fishing, accounts for 10 - 23.5 billion US dollars a year worldwide, representing between 11 and 26 million tons of fish a year. Scientists believe that at current rates of fishing by the year 2048 most commercial fish stocks will collapse.