News
Mozambique and Liberia cooperate in the fight against illegal fishing
Mozambique suspends the license of Spanish flagged purse seine vessel F/V DONIENE for illegal fishing in Liberia’s waters. Proof of illegal fishing by the F/V Doniene in Liberia has been found after an inspection of the vessel was carried out by the Ministry of Fisheries in Mozambique following an excellent example of cooperation between the governments of Liberia and Mozambique.
In January 2011, the Minister of Agriculture in Liberia, the Hon. Florence A. Chenoweth declared a moratorium on large pelagic fisheries that lasted until 1st of April 2011. However, no tuna vessels have been licensed to date by the Liberian Authorities, so in September 2011, when Stop Illegal Fishing in cooperation with the TM Foundation presented evidence that suggested that a number of Spanish and French flagged tuna vessels were fishing illegally in Liberian waters, Liberia realised they needed to take action.
This information was presented at the 7th International Forum on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, 2‚3 February 2012 in Chatham House in London, by the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency’ Senior Fisheries Adviser, Sloans Chimatiro, and discussed by the meeting. Following this, the TM Foundation has tracked the Doniene from West Africa through to the Mozambican channel in the Indian Ocean. Stop Illegal Fishing consequently briefed Mozambican authorities about the possibility of an IUU vessel coming to port in Mozambique.
The Doniene requested entry into port in Nacala, Mozambique, at the beginning of April for a pre-fishing briefing and inspection prior to receiving a fishing license under the present Fisheries Partnership Agreement (FPA) between the European Union (EU) and Mozambique. Based upon the existing information and on-going investigations, the Minister of Agriculture in Liberia, Hon. Florence A. Chenoweth requested assistance from the Ministry of Fisheries in Mozambique, whom she asked to detain and inspect the vessel on their behalf. Copies of evidence of its illegal activities in Liberia’s waters were also included in this communication.
On the 5th of April the Doniene was boarded by the Mozambican fisheries inspectors who found evidence of illegal fishing activities in Liberian waters, including a forged license. For this reason, and in the spirit of commitment to African cooperation, the vessel was detained by Mozambican authorities in order to carry out a more thorough investigation.
Mozambique is party to both the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) and the United Nations Fish Stock Agreement (UNFSA), which endorse international cooperation in order to prevent IUU fishing, including any IUU fishing activities that may have been carried out in third party waters.
Mozambique notified both the Spanish and Liberian governments of the events and the findings. It is incumbent upon the flag State to respond within 72 hours, investigate the matter and take action. On the 6th April 2012, Spain notified the Government of Mozambique that they will conduct the investigation in accordance with international legal requirements.
Liberia also responded to Spain with its notification of the offense, but, unfortunately this was well after the 72 hours noted in the UNFSA, and Mozambique made the decision to release the vessel in accordance with the flag States promise to act in accordance with requirements under international law.
The Doniene was initially issued a license to fish in Mozambique’s waters pending the Spanish Government’s commitment to provide the results of its investigation to Mozambique within the set time. However, further new evidence on the case from both Liberia and Norway arose, and in consideration of this evidence and the magnitude of alleged gross illegal fishing by several Spanish vessels in Liberia’s waters, the Mozambique Ministry has suspended the fishing privileges of the Doniene effective immediately, until the case is resolved between Liberia and Spain.
The stand taken by Mozambique in carrying out the inspection in support of the investigation is a strong example of continental cooperation between two coastal countries to combat IUU fishing in Africa. Mozambique’s Minister of Fisheries, Hon. Victor M. Borges, stated that ‘Mozambique fully supports regional cooperation amongst the coastal and Small Island States to stop IUU fishing and remains committed to this task’. Mozambique has for many years been a regional champion in the fight against illegal fishing. They have been the hosts of the ‘Southern and Eastern African Heads of Operation Network’ and they have taken a strong leadership role in negotiating the African Voice in various UN fisheries related fora. This cooperation between East and West Africa, which is promoted and supported by the Partnership for African Fisheries and Stop Illegal Fishing of the NEPAD Agency, marks a significant step in demonstrating the African commitment to overcome IUU fishing.
Stop Illegal Fishing commends the decisions of the two Ministers of Liberia and Mozambique and hope other countries will follow in this path for the benefit of all countries plagued by illegal fishing.
The F/V Doniene was the subject of a Stop Illegal Fishing report last month which revealed that the Spanish flagged vessel refused to produce its Liberian fishing license during an inspection in the Ivory Coast in February. This vessel was also mentioned in a previous SIF report on illegal fishing in Liberia which appeared on this site in February. Read the original article here.
Photo credit: SIF wishes to thank Pierre Malan for the use of the photograph of the F/V Doniene entering Nacala in Mozambique, prior to its inspection.