Ecuador’s fishing legislation is combing many gray hairs. Enacted in 1974, this is a legal framework that does not include “relevant provisions regarding illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” as European Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius stressed. Although in 2015 the country promised to take action to end irregular activities and in the process updated its laws to align them internationally, did nothing but promise.
Serious control problems of his fleet did not prevent the fleet from entering into force. bilateral trade agreement with the European Union. “This Accession Protocol guarantees immediate access to 99.7% of agricultural products and 100% of industrial and fishery products from Ecuador at 0% tariff – as emphasized by Juan Carlos Cassinelli, then-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador”. Free road and red carpet for Ecuadorian fish and preserves. And two years later, the country was reprimanded with a yellow card for shortcomings in fisheries control.
And there are a few others like Ecuador, which results in a paradox: Brussels is deepening by shrinking its own fleet, but enabling a large number of product entries from sanctioned countries. To date, the countries that have been scolded are: Ecuador, Panama, Ghana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, Liberia, Vietnam and Cameroon. In short, in 2021 alone, they launched fish and canned goods worth more than €2,300 million, significantly above pre-COVID and global transport slowdown levels.
In parallel, Brussels has just introduced a regulation that jeopardizes the viability of more than 200 Galician fishing vessels, with an indirect effect on two out of ten active vessels. Without adequate scientific reports, socioeconomic impact assessments, and in areas that do not reach a depth of 400 meters, the veto for bottom fishing will come into effect on 9 October. A normative action, which took place in the middle of a war in the heart of the continent and as stated by Fisheries Minister Luis Planas, showed the importance of the fishing industry in favor of Turkey. Union food sovereignty
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Ecuador is the country that introduced the most fish to the old continent. Especially through Spain, after more than €350 million last year and an increase of 50% each year. These are followed by France and Italy, which are net buyers of marine protein-based products. If before the pandemic this country exported 4,200 million annually, now it is close to 4,700.
A relatively limited increase compared to Panama, which issues 100 million invoices per year in the European market; It grew 80% in one year, thanks to sales in Spain, Italy or Denmark. According to data provided by the Minister of Commerce, Ghana or Cameroon’s turnover in Europe is now and Vietnam’s turnover has decreased significantly in recent years (802 million in 2021).
like Ecuador, Yellow card issued to Panama in 2019. And it’s closer to getting a red card – which means banning the export of fish to the European Union – than to restoring its past good status. “It is extremely urgent to address the gaps in the system to tackle IUU fisheries. It has been more than two years since Panama was identified as a non-cooperating country and there is still much to be done”, stated the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs (DG Mare) this summer.
On another plane, there is Russia, which has no warnings, but whose foreign sales bring foreign currency to the regime of Vladimir Putin. In the first half of this year alone, fish sales to the EU were 50% more than in the same period last year and close to the historical maximum of the current series of 530 million euros. Russian-flagged fishing vessels have not lost access to EU ports.
Source: Informacion
Christina Moncayo is a contributing writer for “Social Bites”. Her focus is on the gaming industry and she provides in-depth coverage of the latest news and trends in the world of gaming.