Also helpful was the agreement that a vessel fishing in the zone of a regional fisheries management organisation, but which was not a party to that organisation, did not have to be 'sighted' to presume it was engaged in IUU fishing. Instead, the vessel only has to be 'identified' and such identifications could be through, e.g. trade statistics. This keeps up the pressure on one of the worst sources of IUU fishing - 'Flag of Convenience Vessels' which are rarely caught in the act or 'sighted', when they flout rules. Birdlife International is the world's leading authority on the conservation of birds and their habitats, represented in more than 100 countries. RSPB is the UK Partner of BirdLife International.
State is a country whose ports a vessel visits.
Background Notes 1. According to the FAO, IUU or 'pirate' fishing is a growing problem. It has doubled in the last 10 years and accounts for an estimated quarter of the world's fish catch. It is fuelling overfishing on a massive scale, undermining national and regional efforts to conserve and restore depleted fish stocks and other marine biodiversity. The biggest problem arises from 'flag of convenience' vessels which flout the rules to poach commercially valuable fish such as tuna and Patagonian toothfish.