Latest Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Stories

Pew Environment Group Urges U.N. to Correct Course NEW YORK, May 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the United Nations meets to discuss the state of high seas fisheries management, two independent, peer-reviewed studies reveal that ineffective international management is undermining the future of high seas fisheries, fish populations and the health of marine ecosystems. One study -- published online by the journal Science -- finds that governments have been ineffective in stopping illegal...

In the 1990s the European Commission approved a series of management measures to avoid the over-exploitation of fishery resources. A study carried out by the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) now reveals that the Common Fisheries Policy in Europe has promoted the extension of the European fleet into more vulnerable eco-systems such as deep waters. However, the next reform of the fishery policy could reverse this trend and achieve sustainability of marine resources."The...

Pew calls conference on global trade in endangered species a major disappointment DOHA, Qatar, March 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) concluded without providing any trade protections whatsoever for severely depleted Atlantic bluefin tuna and four vulnerable species of sharks - scalloped hammerhead, oceanic white tip, porbeagle and spiny dogfish. "We cannot continue to...

DOHA, Qatar, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CITES, the UN governed international body of nations in charge of conserving plant and animal species, today rejected Monaco's proposal to ban all international trade of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. The vote was conclusive, 20 nations voted for the motion, while 68 rejected. Conservation measures of the species will hence remain in the hands of ICCAT, the regional fisheries management organization that to date has been responsible for the species....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Susan Lieberman, director of international policy for the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement today in response to the European Commission's failure to reach an unqualified decision on the proposal to prohibit international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna at the upcoming meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). "Today's 'recommendation' by the European Commission is a non-decision. Monaco...

While most of us would never willingly consume a highly endangered species, doing so might be as easy as plucking sushi from a bento box. New genetic detective work from the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History shows that bluefin tuna is routinely plated in sushi bars sampled in New York and Colorado. A quarter of what was labeled as tuna on sushi menus was bluefin, and some was even escolar, a waxy, buttery fish often labeled "white...

PORTO DE GALINHAS, Brazil, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After meeting for ten days, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) refused to end fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Instead, ICCAT set the catch limit for bluefin, considered the most valuable fish in the sea, at 13,500. Member countries also agreed on only one measure that will help conserve sharks in the Atlantic, a ban on the retention and landing of big eye threshers, but Mexico was...

Established to protect Atlantic tuna, an international fisheries group has actually driven the bluefin tuna to the brink of extinction, environmentalists announced Thursday.The night before a meeting in Brazil of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), an accusation was made by environmentalists saying that the group brazenly ignored the advice of its own scientists and has managed to drastically reduce the levels of bluefin tuna by setting fishing quotas,...

A band of 91 nations around the globe agreed to sign a United Nations treaty that will prevent sea vessels involved in the illegal fishing trade from entering their ports, a move that participants hope will prevent illicitly captured fish from entering markets, thus curbing the highly lucrative and widespread practice.The treaty will usher in a slew of new regulatory measures for participant nations, such as requiring that incoming foreign fishing ships request permission to enter port in...

Weak enforcement combined with fishermen facing serious economic hardships are leading to widespread violations of fisheries regulations along the Northeastern United States coast. This pattern of noncompliance threatens the success of new fisheries management measures put in place to protect and restore fish stocks, according to a new study published online this week in the journal Marine Policy.Among their findings, environmental economists Dr. Dennis King of the University of Maryland...