Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Monday May 30, 2022
European fishing fleets have been illegally netting tuna
from dwindling stocks in the Indian Ocean, according to data presented to EU
authorities and analysed by expert groups.
EU purse seine (a type of large net) fishing vessels were
present in the waters of Indian Ocean coastal states, where they were likely to
have carried out unauthorised catches, and have reported catches in the Chagos
archipelago marine protected area and in Mozambique’s exclusive economic zone.
Two investigations were made of fishing in the Indian Ocean,
one conducted by the group OceanMind and another by the charity Blue Marine
Foundation along with Kroll, the corporate investigation company. The first report
found evidence, from the publicly available data published by the EU from its
fishing fleet from 2016 to 2020, that EU vessels fished in the region, where
the main catches include the skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna species. Blue
Marine Foundation subsequently established that the vessels were not
authorised.
The second report, by Blue Marine Foundation and Kroll,
examined data from ships’ monitoring software, called the automatic
identification system (AIS), and found that some vessels in the region had
switched it off, which could be an indication of unauthorised fishing.
Populations of tuna are under increasing pressure as
industrialised fishing fleets cash in on the growing market for the popular
fish. The expansion of tuna fisheries could lead to extinction, scientists have
warned.
The latest NGO findings, presented to government
representatives at a meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission in Seychelles
this week, highlight the problem of illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU)
fishing around the world, and of EU vessels taking catches from the depleting
stocks of developing countries.
The analysts also found instances where vessels had “gone
dark” – turned off monitoring through the AIS, which transmits a ship’s
position and is a safety tool that can also be used to ensure fishers keep
within the rules – at key points, suggesting they may have engaged in IUU
fishing.
Some EU vessels in the western Indian Ocean went dark for an
average of three-quarters of the period from 1 January 2017 to 30 April 2019,
according to the Blue Marine Foundation findings.
The Guardian has spoken to a person familiar with the
licensing situation, who confirmed EU vessels have had no licences to fish in
Somali waters since 2013. Blue Marine Foundation said the Indian authorities
also confirmed they had not issued licences to EU vessels.
Anne-France Mattlet, the tuna group director for the EU
fishing trade association Europêche, said: “The EU purse seine vessels did not
fish in Somalian waters.”
An official for the European Commission said: “The EU has a
strict zero tolerance for IUU. In order to fight IUU in the IOTC convention
area, the EU has also tabled a proposal to establish a high-sea boarding and
inspection scheme, based on the work already done within the IOTC.
“This would be an important tool to control better the
fishing activities in the high seas and continue to fight against IUU fishing.
We have also tabled a proposal to improve the traditionally weak IOTC
compliance process, by putting more emphasis on the categorisation and
follow-up to established situations of non-compliance.”
The spokesperson said fishing crews may have valid reasons
for switching off their AIS technology, and that the transmission power and
signal can vary from place to place.
“[Going dark] does not imply that they fish illegally. The
AIS might be switched off under certain circumstances by professional judgment
of the master,” the spokesperson said. “The information given by the AIS may
not be a complete picture of the situation in the area and of the vessel’s
activity.”
Charles Clover, the executive director of Blue Marine
Foundation, defended its claims. “The report showing the locations of EU
vessels is based on the findings of a study commissioned by Blue Marine
Foundation and undertaken by OceanMind – a highly reputable organisation –
which in turn was based on publicly available data reported by the EU and
published by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission on its website,” he said.
“This data shows, for example, evidence of fishing on the
part of vessels flagged to Spain in the waters of Somalia, in 2017 and 2018,
and India, in 2018 and 2019.”
He added: “There is evidence to suggest that some of these
fleets are fishing in coastal states’ waters without any kind of authorisation
and we call on the European Commission to investigate these instances as a
matter of urgency.”
The Guardian also approached the Spanish government for
comment.