Seafood is a highly-sought after and
nutritious meal for millions of people across the world - and an essential food
protein in many developing countries.
The total number of fishing vessels in
the world is estimated at around 4.6 million. Most of these are small vessels.
Some 64,000 fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over operate in marine
waters.
But fishing is one of the most dangerous
professions in the world. It is estimated that thousands of fishers lose their
lives every year.
That is why IMO has been working for
many years, alongside other stakeholders, to enhance fishing vessel safety –
and save lives at sea.
This work will also contribute to the
battle against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Why aren’t fishing vessels covered by
IMO’s Safety of Life at Sea treaty, SOLAS?
International treaties such as the
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) have been in
force for any decades for commercial shipping, including cargo and passenger
ships. SOLAS includes a number of regulations which are applicable to all
ships, such as its SOLAS chapter V, on safety of navigation. However, many
other SOLAS regulations provide an exemption for fishing vessels.
Unlike other merchant ships, which load
cargo in a port and then carry it to unload at another port, fishing vessels
set out to sea unladen, catch fish and sail back to port with their catch of
fish. Some larger trawlers and factory ships freeze, process and tin fish, out
at sea.
IMO has been working to address fishing
vessel safety for many decades. In
collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), IMO has developed and
revised a series of non-mandatory instruments which address the design,
construction and equipment of fishing vessels, including:
In 1977, IMO adopted the Torremolinos
International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels, which was later
modified by the 1993 Torremolinos Protocol.
As both of these treaties had failed to come into force, IMO later
adopted the 2012 Cape Town Agreement, to bring into effect the provisions of
the earlier treaties.
The Cape Town Agreement includes
mandatory international requirements for stability, construction and associated
seaworthiness of fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over, as well as
requirements for life-saving appliances, communications equipment and fire
protection.
It should be noted that IMO's MARPOL
regulations for the prevention of pollution from ships do apply to fishing
vessels, inclduing regualtions for the prevention of pollution by garbage from
ships, which prohibit the discharge of garbage and operational waste, including
fishing gear, into the sea.
So what is the Cape Town Agreement?
The 2012 Cape Town Agreement is an
internationally-binding instrument. The
Agreement includes mandatory international requirements for stability
and associated seaworthiness, machinery and electrical installations, life-saving
appliances, communications equipment and fire protection, as well as fishing
vessel construction.
The 2012 Cape Town Agreement is aimed at
facilitating better control of fishing vessel safety by flag, port and coastal
States. It is also expected to contribute to the fight against IUU fishing.
The treaty will enter into force 12
months after at least 22 States, with an aggregate 3,600 fishing vessels of 24
m in length and over operating on the high seas have expressed their consent to
be bound by it. To date (June 2018), 10 countries have ratified the Cape Town
Agreement: Belgium, Congo, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands,
Norway, Saint Kitts and Nevis and South Africa. Between them, they have an
aggregate of 1,020 fishing vessels of 24 m in length and over operating on the
high seas.
What does a country need to do to ratify
the Cape Town Agreement and how can IMO help?
As with other international treaty
instruments, the Cape Town Agreement needs to be ratified and implemented.
Different countries have different processes for doing this. They may need to
look at existing regulations for fishing vessels, if any, and see whether they
need to be adapted or updated.
IMO can assist with technical and legal
training and support, through its technical cooperation programme. The
Implementation Guidelines on Part B of the Code, the Voluntary Guidelines and
the Safety Recommendations could be useful for States implementing the
provisions of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement, although the main purpose of these
Guidelines is to assist competent authorities in the implementation of
voluntary instruments.
What has IMO been doing to help bring
the Cape Town Agreement into force?
IMO has been running a series of
seminars around the world to explain what the Cape Town Agreement is, why it is
important, how it can be implemented and what the next steps are for a Party to
the Agreement.
The Cape Town Regional Seminar (October
2017) was attended by participants from 10 countries in the Africa Anglophone
region. It followed similar events, organized by IMO in cooperation with FAO,
including, in the Cook Islands (August-September 2017), for 10 countries in the
Pacific region; in Côte d’Ivoire (December 2016), for 12 countries from the
Africa Francophone region; in Indonesia (April 2015), for 11 countries from the
East Asia region; in Belize (October 2014), for 13 countries in the Caribbean;
and in Peru (June 2014), for 12 countries in Latin America. Further seminars
are planned to be held in further region(s) during 2018.
We are seeing increasing commitment from
a number of IMO Member States as well as from regional organizations and
international governmental and non-governmental organizations to promote the
Cape Town Agreement and other measures to make fishing a safer and more
sustainable industry. This is something to be welcomed, for the millions of
people worldwide who work in the fishing sector.
What about training of fishers?
There is a mandatory treaty for
training, certification and watchkeeping of fishers in force since 2012, the
International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and
Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F), 1995. This treaty is
intended to promote the safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine
environment, taking into account the unique nature of the fishing industry and
the fishing working environment.
The 1995 STCW-F Convention is currently
being comprehensively reviewed by IMO's Sub-Committee on Human Element,
Training and Watchkeeping, in order to align the standards of the Convention
with the current state of the fishing industry, and to make available an
effective instrument, which will contribute to addressing the significant
challenges of this sector.
What exactly is IUU fishing and why do
we need to combat it?
Illegal, unreported and unregulated
(IUU) fishing refers to fishing which is carried out without proper
authorization. This can undermine national, regional and global efforts to
conserve and manage fish stocks. IUU fishing affects about 20 per cent of the
global fish yields and IUU fishing costs the industry about $US23 billion a
year in lost incomes.
Fishing vessels used in IUU fishing may
have been authorized to fly a specific flag, but may be evading proper flag
State control. Supervision and control
of these vessels may be lacking. There
may also be incidents of fishing vessels with fraudulent certificates. Port and
coastal State control may not be sufficient to monitor and control these
vessels.
Vessels being used for IUU fishing are
likely to lack basic safety equipment and pose a risk to fishers – who may be
poorly paid or even enslaved.
FAO says that Illegal, Unreported and
Unregulated (IUU) fishing is a broad term, which includes:
The Pew Charitable Trusts says that IUU
fishing can include failing to report catch, using illegal gear, fishing
without licenses, and even painting new names on vessels while at sea to avoid
detection by authorities. This activity cheats coastal communities out of food
and income, skews scientific stock assessments, undermines law-abiding fishers,
and deceives consumers who trust that the fish they purchase was caught within
the law. Illegal fishing is a major threat to the sustainability of the world’s
fisheries.
I’ve heard about the “four pillars” for
fishing vessel safety – what are they?
For cargo and passenger ships, the four
pillars for safety, environmental protection and seafarers' training and rights
are said to be IMO’s SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW treaties; alongside ILO’s Maritime
Labour Convention (MLC 2006). All these
instruments are in force.
For fishing and fishers, the four
pillars are:
Can the IMO Number Scheme help to keep
track of fishing vessels?
Yes. Identifying and tracking fishing vessels
and being able to establish their ownership is an important part of ongoing
work to tackle IUU fishing.
In 2017, the IMO Assembly agreed to
extend the IMO Ship Identification Number Scheme to more vessels, on a
voluntary basis, to support ship safety and pollution prevention by being able
to more easily identify vessels.
The number scheme applies to ships over
100 gross tonnage and is mandatory for passenger ships of 100 gross tonnage and
upwards and all cargo ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards. In 2013, the IMO
Assembly agreed to the voluntary extension of the scheme to fishing vessels
over 100 gross tonnage. In 2017, the IMO Assembly agreed to further extend
voluntary application to fishing vessels of steel and non-steel hull
construction; passenger ships of less than 100 gross tonnage, high-speed
passenger craft and mobile drilling units, engaged on international voyages;
and to all motorized inboard fishing vessels of less than 100 gross tonnage
down to a size limit of 12 metres in length overall authorized to operate
outside waters under national jurisdiction of the flag State.
The IMO Secretariat continues to
participate in the working group of the FAO’s Global Record of Fishing Vessels,
Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessel. This is a phased and
collaborative global initiative to make available, in a rapid way, certified
data from State authorities about vessels and vessel-related activities.
IMO works with IHS Maritime & Trade
for the allocation of the IMO Ship Identification Number. The current vessel
database contains 24,495 fishing vessels, fishing research vessels, fishing
survey vessels, fish carriers, fishery support ships, fish factory ships and
fish farm ships, of which 4,797 are below 24 m in length and 19,698 are 24 m in
length and over.
Is there a joint UN working group on IUU
fishing?
Yes, the third Joint IMO/FAO Working
Group on IUU fishing and related matters met in 2015. A number of
recommendations emanating from that meeting were discussed at IMO’s
Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III), meeting in September
2017, which agreed a number of proposals to address IUU fishing, focusing on
key areas of vessel identification; flag and port State performance; training
and implementation of relevant instruments; and environmental issues. Click for
more information. IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee and Marine Environment
Protection Committee are now following up on a number of those recommendations.
The fourth joint working group meeting
on IUU fishing, involving FAO, ILO and IMO, is set to be held in 2019.
Which organizations are supporting IMO
in the work on fishing vessel safety and IUU fishing?
IMO works closely with its sister UN
organizations, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), in particular with a view to supporting the
entry into force of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement as well as the implemention of
MARPOL Annex V on regualtions to prevent pollution by garbage from ships.
The work being done to promote the
ratification and implementation of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement on the safety
of fishing vessels and other activities to improve safety and sustainability in
the fishing sector and fight IUU fishing is also being supported by
international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
These include: the North East Atlantic
Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
(IMarEST), the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), the Pew Charitable
Trusts, the World Animal Protection and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
What is IMO doing about discarded
fishing gear and marine debris from fishing vessels?
Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded
fishing gear can become a navigational hazard, as well as being a source of
marine litter. The discharge of fishing gear into the sea is prohibited under
MARPOL Annex V, regulations for the prevention of pollution by garbage from
ships.
Effective marking of fishing gear is
seen as a critical tool in addressing the problem. This would also help better
implementation of the Annex V regulations.
FAO and IMO are co-leading on sources of
marine litter in the Global PArtnership for Marine Litter (GMPL).
FAO has agreed FAO Voluntary Guidelines
on the Marking of Fishing Gear, to be submitted to the thirty-third session of
FAO's Committee on Fisheries (COFI) to be held 9-13 July 2018.
IMO's Marine Environment Protection
Committee is currently looking into how to further address the issue of marine
plastic litter from shipping in the context of 2030 Sustainable Development
Goal 14 (SDG 14).
What is the link between safe fishing
and the UN SDGS?
Ensuring safe and sustainable fishing is
clearly linked with the achievement of the targets of UN SDG 14 on the oceans.
There are also clear links with other UN
SDGs, including those relating to poverty, hunger, education and training,
infrastructure and partnerships.
What is IMO doing about the safety of
vessels going into or near ice covered waters in the Polar regions?
IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee has
considered how the safety measures of the International Code for Ships
Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) might be applied in the future to
non-SOLAS vessels operating in polar waters. The Polar Code provides additional
requirements for ships operating in the harsh environment of the Arctic waters
and Antarctic area.
As a first step, the MSC has instructed
the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction (SDC 6) to develop
recommendatory safety measures for
certain types of vessels when operating in polar waters, including
fishing vessels of 24 m in length and over, with a view to alignment with the
2012 Cape Town Agreement.
What about the millions of small fishing
boats? What about their safety?
Generally speaking, these small vessels
come under national legislation. IMO has developed, in collaboration with FAO
and ILO, a number of non-mandatory instruments, for use primarily by competent
authorities, training institutions, fishing vessel owners, fishermen's
representative organizations and non-governmental organizations having a
recognized role in fishermen's safety and health and training. These
non-mandatory instruments may complement the 2012 Cape Town Agreement on
matters related to crew accommodation and manning. (source : IMO)
