Engelsk mal: Startside Alternativ 1

Norwegian Ministry of Trade,Industry and Fisheries

Ove Hokstad, Deputy Director, Department for Fisheries and Aquaculture

4th June 2019

International requirements, national responsibility, solutions and benefits of a reporting system for lost fishing gears

Some trends• More focus on Oceans • Detailed management at global level• Marine Protected Areas - main focus for Europe• Income and food (G77/China)• Cumulative effects

• Fisheries:• No compliance? • Environmental responsibility? • NGOs pushing

• Obvious need for enhanced governance and compliance

Bad news, or?

SDG 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution

Global Ocean Governance (oversimplified)

UNGAFisheries resol. Law of the Sea Resol.

UNCLOS

UN-Fish Stock Agreement

(UNFSA)

RFMO

BBNJ??? UNEP, CBD

National management

FAO

COFI

CITES

IUCN, PEW, TNC, OCEANA, NRDC,….

UNCED, WSSD, Rio+20, SDG2 + 14

OSPAR (Regional Seas Body)

Environmental

NGOs

CMS, Ramsar, Bern, …

IMO, ISA

FAO

CFS

Global Assessments:

World Ocean Assessment

UNEP Outlook, IPBES,

OHI, UNESCO/IOC

WIPO

Ocean governance

UNCLOS

UN-Fish Stock Agreement(UNFSA) & UNGA

resolutions

RFMO

National management

BBBNJ

RSO`s like OSPAR

IMO MARPOL Annex V UNEA/UNEPFAO

UNGA Fisheries resolutionA/RES/73/125 (2018)

• …abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, including ghost fishing gear, is an increasingly pervasive and destructive form of marine debris causing adverse impacts on fish stocks, marine life and the marine environment and that urgent preventative action is needed, such as marking of fishing gear as proposed by the Committee on Fisheries, as well as removal action,

• 129. Urges States, subregional and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements and other relevant international organizations that have not done so to take action, …, to minimize by-catch, as well as to reduce or eliminate catch by lost or abandoned gear, fish discards and post-harvest losses,

UNGA Fisheries resolution

• 209. Calls upon States, either individually, collectively or through RFMO/As, to further study, develop and adopt effective management measures, and disseminate information , ….;

• 210. Acknowledges the serious environmental, as well as economic and social, impacts on the marine environment caused by abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, and encourages States, and regional fisheries management organizations and arrangements, as appropriate, to take action to reduce such gear,…noting the recommendations of the 2009 report by the UNEP and FAO

UNGA Fisheries resolution

• 212. Welcomes, in this regard, the endorsement by the Committee on Fisheries, at its thirty-third session, of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Marking of Fishing Gear, and also notes that the Committee welcomed the recommendations of the Technical Consultation on the Marking of Fishing Gear and supported the development of a comprehensive global strategy to tackle issues relating to abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear and to support the implementation of the Guidelines;

UNGA Law of the Sea Resolution A/RES/73/124

• 281. Notes with concern that human-related threats, such as marine debris, ship strikes, underwater noise, persistent contaminants, coastal development activities, oil spills and discarded fishing gear, together may severely impact marine life, including its higher trophic levels, and calls upon States and competent international organizations to cooperate and coordinate their research efforts in this regard so as to reduce these impacts and preserve the integrity of the whole marine ecosystem, while fully respecting the mandates of relevant international organizations;

Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships - MARPOL Annex V

• MARPOL Annex V seeks to eliminate and reduce the amount of garbage being discharged into the sea from ships

• Garbage includes all kinds of food, domestic and operational waste, all plastics, …, fishing gear, …generated during the normal operation of the ship and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically.

• MEPC* has developed and adopted the Guidelines for the implementation of MARPOL Annex V, resolution MEPC.295(71).

* Marine environment Protection Committee

Marpol cont.

• 2.2.1 Lost fishing gear may harm the marine environment or create a navigation hazard. Fishing vessel operators are required to record the discharge or loss of fishing gear in the Garbage Record Book or the ship's official log-book as specified in regulations 7.1 and 10.3.6 of MARPOL Annex V.

• 2.2.2 Fishing vessel operators are further required to report the accidental loss or discharge of fishing gear which poses a significant threat to the marine environment and navigation…

Marpol MEPC 74 (May 2019)

• Consider how to amend MARPOL Annex V and the 2017 Guidelines ……, as appropriate, to facilitate and enhance reporting of the accidental loss or discharge of fishing gear, as currently provided in regulation 10.6 of MARPOL Annex V; and clarify the types of fishing gear to be reported.

Marpol MEPC 75 (april 2020) - Continuation

Regional level

• Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter• OSPAR currently assesses beach litter,

seabed litter and plastic particles in Fulmars

• Retrieval of Lost Fixed Gear

NGO`s:"RFMOs are not doing what they should do"

Circular to RFMOs on an Expert

Survey on Abandoned, Lost and

Discarded Fishing Gear

20 May 2019

National level:The Norwegian Government's Updated Ocean Strategy : "Less plastic in the oceans"

• Fight marine debris and the spread of microplastic at national and international level through i.a. a new initiative for a global agreement, cooperation among states and in the development policy

• Food from the oceans (Fish is food)

Norwegian white paper 2017:The place of the oceans in Norway’s foreign and development policy

• actively pursue efforts with the EU to combat marine litter and microplastics, and to intensify efforts in regional forums such as OSPAR, NEAFC, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Arctic Council

Conclusion

• International obligations are slowly evolving• Need more than just reporting: Knowledge, Rettrieval

• We have some work to do (regional/state/local)

• If the fishing sector is not performing - others will set the rules