The effectiveness of the Southern African development community's response to international efforts to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the context of industrial marine fisheries and the SADC coastal states.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, more commonly referred to as IUU fishing (IUU fishing), is a global problem which affects both the high seas and the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of States. Illegal fishing refers to fishing within the jurisdiction of a State in contravention of its laws and fishing by flag vessels in contravention of the requirements of the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) of which a flag State is a member. Unreported fishing relates to misreporting or non-reporting of fishing within the area of control of a RFMO. Unregulated fishing involves fishing from vessels of flag States that are not members of the relevant RFMO. In the EEZs of States, IUU fishing usually includes activities such as unlicensed fishing, under- or non-reporting of catches, fishing in closed areas or during closed seasons, use of unauthorised fishing gear, exceeding quotas or taking prohibited species. On the high seas IUU fishing includes non-compliance with the conservation methods of RFMOs or fishing outside the area of an RFMO.
IUU fishing causes environmental, economic and social problems and is of particular concern to developing countries as these suffer the greatest losses from such activity. The coastal States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are responsible for managing and monitoring approximately seven million square kilometers of ocean. Major IUU fishing activities affecting these States include fishing in closed areas, illegal fishing methods and equipment, un-licensed foreign vessels, non-reporting and misreporting of catches by foreign vessels and illegal or unregulated transshipment at sea. The SADC therefore has much to lose from IUU fishing and a great deal to gain from participating in global efforts to curb these activities and developing a regional response.
This dissertation seeks to establish to what extent SADC has developed legal and policy instruments and institutions to curb IUU fishing and to what extent it has incorporated global and regional instruments and proposal designed to curb IUU fishing into these instruments. The dissertation then seeks to ascertain whether the legal and policy initiatives and institutions developed by SADC are effective in dealing with the problem of IUU fishing in the SADC region and globally.
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Master of Law in Business Law. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.
Keywords
Theses--Environmental law., Fishery law and legislation., Marine parks and reserves., Fisheries.