SPAIN will commit €250,000 to the global fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).
The money is being spent on the creation of an international directory of fishing vessels, to drive transparency and accountability in the world’s fishing industry.
The donation is more than half the annual budget of the new register, giving Spanish authorities an important role in guiding the project’s progress.
The central database will contain information on vessels, including name changes, flags and identification markings.
“The Spanish government has given a massive boost to the project,” said Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation.
“We now hope that other countries will step up and provide the additional financial support needed.”
Pirate fishing vessels are causing chaos in the world’s fishing industry, as well as damaging fragile marine ecosystems and vulnerable species.
Investigations have shown how illegal fishing vessels escape detection by changing their identities, and ‘flag-hopping’ between open vessel registries.
