About 90 per cent success rate has been achieved in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing since the implementation of the Offshore Fisheries Management Decree 2012 and the Offshore Fisheries Management Regulation 2014.
Minister for Fisheries Osea Naiqamu said these legal instruments, implemented in 2013, were developed in order to ensure that the highly migratory fish stock such as tuna and bluefin are sustainably managed.
Under their regulations, he said, the Fisheries Department was able to manage offshore fishing stocks in a structured manner and in accordance with international standards.
He said they also took into account Fiji’s regional and international obligation such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Conservation and Management Measures and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to name a few.
Because of their implementation, Mr Naiqamu said the department’s Monitoring Control and Enforcement, Surveillance and Investigation Units was increased to 25 authorised officers. “These officers were recruited under the present government’s recognition for the need to effectively combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
“They work within the ambit of these two documents and in co-operation with line ministries, the Fiji Navy, regional entities such as the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and the Western and Central Pacific Commission and its members,” Mr Naiqamu said.
Various activities are monitored under the Offshore Decree and Regulation and Mr Naiqamu said this legislation allowed transparent and vigorous licensing process, vessel monitoring system, boarding and inspection activities of designated ports, observer placements on fishing vessels, port sampling and port monitoring activities through the active enforcement of ports states measures under the Offshore Decree.
He revealed that Fiji co-ordinates to boost its efforts in the development of catch documentation and verification systems which have ensured the proper tracking of tuna products to the standard of the European Union and the International Commission for the conservation of Atlantic tuna.
2014, Fiji Times Limited.