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Cape Town agreement to fight IUU fishing, transnational organized crimes
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Spanish government are organizing the Ministerial Conference on Fishing Vessel Safety and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in Torremolinos, Spain, on Oct. 21 to 23. The event aims to promote the Cape Town Agreement, a key IMO treaty on the safety of fishing vessels. It is in Indonesia’s interest to consent to the agreement for the following different roles
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Nerves of steel: Fishing boats are seen through the reinforced steel bars of an under-construction dike at Kamal Muara, North Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Made Anthony Iswara)
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he International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Spanish government are organizing the Ministerial Conference on Fishing Vessel Safety and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in Torremolinos, Spain, on Oct. 21 to 23. The event aims to promote the Cape Town Agreement, a key IMO treaty on the safety of fishing vessels.
The entry into force of the agreement assists to deter the proliferation of IUU fishing, by establishing international safety standards for fishing vessels, mainly to enhance the standard of design, construction and equipment, including safety protections.
The agreement updates and amends the Torremolinos International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels and the Torremolinos Protocol. The condition for the agreement to come into force is 12 months after the date on which no less than 22 states whose fishing vessels of at least 24 meters is not less than 3,600 have expressed to be bound by it.
The fishing vessels size regulated under the agreement comes under the rationale that such capacity vessels usually operate in the high seas. Smaller fishing vessels generally carry out commercial fishing under national jurisdiction and are thus subject to national regulations.
As of February 2019, the minimum number of states expressing consent to be bound by this agreement had not been reached to allow it to come into force. As was the case for its successors, the convention and the protocol, the biggest challenge of this agreement remains its limited number of state parties.
The link between IUU fishing and the safety of fishers working on board and forced labor has been acknowledged by the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization. Fishing operators who engage in illegal fishing are less likely to provide their crews with proper labor conditions, safety equipment or training. They are inclined to have inadequate modifications and their vessels often lack inspection or safety certifications in order to reduce operational costs. Fiercer competition among vessel owners due to declining fish stocks may undermine fishers’ safety.
It is in Indonesia’s interest to consent to the agreement for the following different roles:
