The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the conservation of Africa`s marine environment, stop the export of overcapacity from north to south, and protect fishing communities by restricting competition with industrial fishing abroad. Through partnerships with local NGOs, we will also seek to increase the negotiating capacity of governments in African and Indian Ocean countries and create sustainable fisheries programmes. This project also aims to improve the transparency of fisheries agreements. Our robust research and unique database will allow us to uncover the many economic, environmental and ethical gaps in the current agreements. BLOOM will ensure that private agreements become public and that civil society participates in negotiations so as not to foment corruption mechanisms. BLOOM`s work aims to bridge the gap between supranational logics and local efforts for marine conservation. Our position is not to fight in principle against long-distance fishing and foreign fleets, but to raise the standards of good fishing practices of foreign countries in Africa, thus supporting industrial actors in sustainable fishing while preserving fishermen`s artisans. In the North-East Atlantic, interested fisheries associations and States with adjacent territorial waters (“coastal States”) are working together to manage large stocks under neAFC. Separate meetings of coastal States are scheduled each year to determine TACs and management measures. They concern stocks of redfish, blue whiting, Atlantic-Scandinavian herring, mackerel and rock haddock.
The management measures agreed in this context will be transmitted to NEAFC. UNFSA was established by the United Nations to improve the cooperative management of fisheries resources that cover large areas and are of economic and environmental interest to a number of countries. The agreement requires that a precautionary approach and the best available scientific information be used for fisheries management, manage the impact of fishing on related and dependent species, minimise pollution and prevent or eliminate overfishing and excess fishing capacity. Canada and the United States meet annually to discuss transboundary fisheries management and science issues. The cooperation aims to develop complementary and integrated approaches that can be implemented at the national level, as requested by both countries. For years, joint fisheries surveys have been conducted in the Pacific and Atlantic, and the United States and Canada participate in several international agreements on shared species. NOAA Fisheries has a long-standing relationship with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). NOAA and DFO, led primarily through the Northeast, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centres, collaborate on a variety of topics, including: marine mammals, climate change impacts on fisheries, ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, and transboundary monitoring of the stock ecosystem. These large industrial vessels used their fishing effort in the waters of developing countries through fisheries agreements concluded in the early 1980s to supply Western markets. Today, these agreements are widespread and mainly affect European countries (Spain and France in the lead), China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States (only in the Pacific).
Fisheries agreements are generally criticised for their opacity and inequality: negotiations take place behind closed doors and economic data are not disclosed. The agreements contain very few incentives for foreign fishermen to behave well, and the profit for “partner countries” is often ridiculous, while foreign vessels – sometimes more than 100 million – compete with small local fishermen. For example, the Comoros (in the world`s second largest tuna fishing area) receives only €600,000 per year from the EU and an additional €330,000 from industry, for a total of 4.2% of the estimated value of catches. Nevertheless, this country is one of the poorest in the world. Unfair and opaque fisheries agreements pose a serious food security problem in developing countries and can lead to economic disruption of the local balance, weakening of regional governance, increased corruption and migration flows. Ultimately, the unjust and short-term management of natural resources fuels the destabilisation of political systems (including in Europe). This is not inevitable. Nature and human communities can and must be resilient. This is not just a healthy goal: it is the only viable option for the planet and humanity. If we cannot solve the problems of resources, employment and food security, the EU and other powerful nations such as Russia and China will contribute directly to the extreme impoverishment of the South, creating the conditions for mass economic migration and even more human tragedies. As two of the world`s largest seafood pickers and two of the largest importers, the United States and the European Union (EU) seek to reassure consumers that their seafood, whether produced or imported into the country, has been harvested legally and sustainably. The EU and the US are committed to taking national action to end overfishing and rebuild depleted stocks through a variety of innovative management approaches, and will continue to strengthen regional partnerships to advance these fisheries targets.
Below are some of our joint activities. NOAA Fisheries has been working closely with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia for over 40 years and formalised the relationship through a Memorandum of Understanding in 2010. NOAA fisheries have a long list of scientific commitments with Australia, including research on bycatch reduction devices, use of genetic tools to estimate bluefin tuna and swordfish population sizes, monitoring and predicting shark movements in various coastal areas, and identifying fish species. Within the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Conservation Commission (CCAMLR) and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Agency, NOAA Fisheries works closely with Australia to protect fragile marine ecosystems, improve fisheries management measures and adopt measures to combat illegal fishing, unregulated and unreported (IUU). The Atlantis model was created by CSIRO and co-developed with NOAA Fisheries. It has strongly influenced the direction of integrated ecosystem assessments, which are essential for projecting the ecosystem impacts of different climate scenarios and coastal management regimes on corals and providing guidance to marine resource managers on appropriate catch targets for forage fish. In 1988, the United States and Russia signed the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Mutual Fisheries Relations establishing the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee between the United States and Russia. The main aim of the agreement is to maintain a fisheries relationship that benefits both countries. The United States and Russia cooperate in scientific research, consult on issues related to the conservation and management of fisheries outside their exclusive economic zones and third-party areas, and work together to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities. The EU Regulation of 11 December 2013 on the Common Fisheries Policy sets out the legal framework for Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements. The Council shall decide on the signing and provisional application of an Agreement and a Protocol and on the allocation of fishing opportunities between the Member States.
Once signed by the Council, the European Parliament is invited to approve the conclusion. .