The Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA), the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Professional Organizations (CAOPA), The Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM), Danish Living Seas and Bloom have jointly lodged a complaint to the EU, asking the European Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Italy. They argue that the Italian fisheries authorities have failed to comply with their obligations, under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), to sanction the illegal activities of Italian trawlers in the waters of Sierra Leone. These vessels have been making incursions in the inshore zone reserved for artisanal fisheries, catching species which they were not allowed to catch and transshipping without authorization.
These Italian vessels have a history of illegal operations, documented by Greenpeace, Oceana and CFFA: catching sharks and infringing rules on finning, making illegal incursions in neighboring West African countries waters, fishing with the wrong fishing gear in The Gambia.
Gaoussou Gueye, President of the CAOPA states that ‘when they come to our countries, the EU people are always talking about how important it is to fight illegal fishing. They always argue that EU fleets fish legally and sustainably. Still, some EU vessels are involved in operations that are far from sustainable, some downright illegal, like the activities carried out by these Italian trawlers over many years in West Africa. If the EU wants to have credibility and be trusted by African countries, then it should not accept such behavior by one of its Member States’ fleet. These Italian trawlers have to be monitored and properly sanctioned when they don’t respect the laws of our countries or the Common Fisheries Policy’.
These Italian trawlers, owned by two Sicilian companies, have never been sanctioned by Italy for their unlawful activities. In December 2016, an infringement procedure was opened by the European Commission against Italy related to some of these illegal activities in the Gambia and Guinea Bissau but, to this day, more than two years later, this infringement procedure has not been followed up by the Commission.
At a time when the European Union is championing sustainable fisheries globally and claims to be leading the fight against IUU fishing, it is unacceptable that it lets some EU-flagged vessels conduct IUU activities in the waters of African countries with total impunity. The EU must take action now.