Regulation 2008/1005 - Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 286/1

The Community is a Contracting Party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (Unclos), has ratified the United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of 4 August 1995 (UN Fish Stocks Agreement) and has accepted the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas of 24 November 1993 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO Compliance Agreement). Those provisions predominantly set out the principle that all States have a duty to adopt appropriate measures to ensure sustainable management of marine resources and to cooperate with each other to this end.

The objective of the common fisheries policy, as set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy (3), is to ensure exploitation of living aquatic resources that provides sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing constitutes one of the most serious threats to the sustainable exploitation of living aquatic resources and jeopardises the very foundation of the common fisheries policy and international efforts to promote better ocean governance. IUU fishing also represents a major threat to marine biodiversity which needs to be addressed in accordance with the objectives set out in the Communication from the Commission — Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 — and beyond.

The FAO adopted in 2001 an international plan of action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which the Community has endorsed. Furthermore, regional fisheries management organisations, with the active support of the Community, have established an array of measures designed to counteract illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

In line with its international commitments, and given the scale and urgency of the problem, the Community should substantially enhance its action against IUU fishing and adopt new regulatory measures designed to cover all facets of the phenomenon.

The action by the Community should be targeted primarily at behaviour falling under the definition of IUU fishing and which causes the most serious damage to the marine environment, the sustainability of fish stocks and the socioeconomic situation of fishermen abiding by the rules on conservation and management of fisheries resources.

In line with the definition of IUU fishing, the scope of this Regulation should extend to fishing activities carried out on the high seas and in maritime waters under the jurisdiction or sovereignty of coastal countries, including maritime waters under the jurisdiction or...