EU fisheries report ‘inaccurate’

PACIFIC – The Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation says a European Union report on fisheries in the region does not reflect the real situation.

The EU report is designed to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and has yellow carded several Pacific countries.

But a PIPSO spokesperson, Mareia Volvola, says the EU does not reflect the overall progress made by regional organisations like the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the Foreign Fisheries Agency.

Volvola says the report raises several questions because there was no consultation with regional organisations.

“I believe they’re biased. Biased in the sense that they are not fully reporting the progress that has been done here in the Pacific. The countries that have worked hard, the management system of fisheries that have been put in place. So maybe they’re not fully acknowledging it.”