19 environmental and development NGOs are sounding the alarm through a letter to tuna RFMOs and some governments following proposals to eliminate or indefinitely relax some key monitoring and surveillance measures
The Coronavirus crisis has triggered a series of reactions and measures to ensure human safety by many governments and international institutions. In this context, several proposals have been raised to relax and, in some cases, eliminate, indefinitely and without further consideration, key monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures. While acknowledging the unprecedented nature of the epidemic and the urgency of certain measures, 19 environmental and development NGOs sounded the alarm bell by underscoring that relaxing MCS would open the door for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Through a letter sent to Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) and to key member states governments, these organizations propose a series of measures that could ensure the safety of observers, crew and inspectors and at the same time guaranteeing scientific and compliance data collection. For this, they suggest alternative methods to collect information in the absence of human observers and inspectors, especially via enhanced electronic monitoring. They finally insist on the need to protect people on the short-term while ensuring that sea-dependent economies are not threatened by a blanket suspension of MCS measures once the crisis is over.