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We're in southern Australia, where the Navy is inspecting a vessel that's been caught

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fishing illegally. Now that many fish stocks are threatened with depletion, professional

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poachers compete with one another in daring tactics, pillaging fish stocks in defiance

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of all regulations. This practice occurs worldwide. Their activities are particularly harmful

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for poor countries that don't always have the resources needed to patrol their waters.

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The spoils of these activities, carried out mostly by international criminal organizations,

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amount yearly to between three and ten billion euros.

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We did a study two years ago and we established that the amount of illegal fishing around

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Africa may well contribute to about one billion dollars worth of fish, and globally the high

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seas catch, the amount that's caught in high seas that is unregulated, will be about the

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same level.

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By illegal fishing we mean fishing activities that disregard the rules, such as fishing

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without a license, ignoring quotas, or even not respecting safety and hygiene conditions

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on board vessels. Illegal fishing currently represents between fifteen and twenty percent

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of global catches. For certain stocks in high demand, such as Patagonian toothfish in the

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Antarctic Ocean, or certain species of tuna, it can account for up to one third of catches,

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thus endangering whole populations of fish on which it causes overfishing. And the one

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and only reason for this is short term profit.

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We have to fight illegal fishing at every stage, from net to plate, when the fish are

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transshipped, when they're landed, and throughout the processing and marketing chain. But it's

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particularly at the landing stage that the European Commission wants to step up controls.

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The main measure will be to introduce port state control for all landings of fishery

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products from non-EU vessels.

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The European Union is a big importer of fish, and therefore it is a very lucrative market

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for the importation and the selling of fish. Therefore it is essential that we have a system

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in place whereby illegal fish are detected, and this we can do through a system of certification

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whereby the flag state will certify that the fish that are landed are legally caught.

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The European Commission wants to apply this certification system not only to fresh and

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refrigerated products, but also to imports of processed, frozen and preserved fisheries

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products. This system can only be effective if matched with an adequate system of penalties.

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Where infringements are established, both the vessels engaging in illegal fishing or

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the flag states that fail to penalize them should be banned from landing or even trading

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in the European Union.

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The European Union is the world's biggest consumer and importer of fisheries products.

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It is therefore determined to act responsibly by shutting its doors to all products of illegal

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fishing, thus depriving the poachers of their sole motivation.

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Profits.