April 2, 2013 — A recently launched Southeast African partnership to crack down on illegal fishing in the Indian Ocean continues to produce early victories. On March 26, the government of the Seychelles Islands denied port entry to the South Korean tuna fishing vessel, Premier, due to suspected illegal fishing. The purse seiner was attempting to come to port in Victoria to offload its catch.
This bold step by the Seychelles follows a string of related actions by African countries, including the uncovering of forged documents that led several Southeast African nations to deny fishing licenses to the Premier. Five countries in the region – Comoros, Kenya, Mozambique, Seychelles and the United Republic of Tanzania – are members of FISH-i Africa, a project supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts and Stop Illegal Fishing, a not-for-profit group committed to ending the devastating impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in all African fisheries. FISH-i Africa is intended to boost cooperation and communication in the region to help those governments identify, monitor and initiate enforcement actions against suspected illegal fishers.
In denying the Premier port access, the Seychelles cited a provision in the Port State Measures Resolution of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) – the fisheries management organization with jurisdiction over the area – that a State may block a vessel from landing or transhipment of fish if the State has “reasonable grounds” to believe that the vessel was engaged in IUU fishing.
Read the full story from the Pew Environment Group