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Investigation No. 11 Rogues or ghosts?

by FISH-i Africa

Summary

Belize-registered GREKO 1 was known to be active in Somali waters, but it was not until 2016 when a European Union naval patrol provided Somalia with sightings of fishing vessels in their exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that it’s operations were analysed.

Detailed description

Belize-registered GREKO 1 was known to be active in Somali waters, but it was not until 2016 when a European Union naval patrol provided Somalia with sightings of fishing vessels in their exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that it’s operations were analysed. A port inspection of the vessel in Mogadishu established that illegal fishing had taken place, and a USD 65 000 fine was paid. Investigations into the GREKO 1 and her sister ship the GREKO 2 revealed that both were listed as ‘scrapped’, and for this the owners had received EUR 1.4 million under an EU capacity reduction scheme. Investigations continue to establish the identity of the ‘scrapped’ vessels.

More Information

Submitted By

Justin Slabbert
Created At

2019-06-27 04:15:04

Revised At

2019-06-27 04:15:59

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FISH-i Africa

The Western Indian Ocean is home to abundant fish resources that sustain a thriving fishing industry, which in turn support local economies and a provides food and jobs in the region and abroad. These resources also fuel one of the world’s illegal fishing hot spots – destroying the marine environment, robbing national economies, stealing food and livelihoods from local people, and undermining legitimate industry. In response – eight countries – Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia and Tanzania – have joined forces to tackle this problem. These countries had already pledged to take actions against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, but in reality, with combined waters of nearly five million square kilometres and limited assets and capacity, overcoming the complex web of large-scale illegal fishing was a challenge that they could not take on individually. So in late 2012 FISH-i Africa was formed with the aim to improve cooperation, information and intelligence sharing in order to take enforcement actions against illegal fishing operators.