Chapter 13, 1 March IUU Fishing

1. Chapter 13, 1 March IUU Fishing

2. IUU fishing • IUU fishing has not been a problem within the Icelandic EEZ in recent years • IUU fishing was however a problem in adjacent areas

3. Countering IUU in the NEAFC Regulatory Area • Extensive unregulated fishery for decades • New measures against IUU fishing • International • NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement • IUU lists • Port State Control • National • Act N° 151/96 • “Icelandic authorities may take other action against foreign fishing vessels because of their fishing on the high seas as may be necessary to enforce agreements to which Iceland is a party to”.

4. IUU in the Irminger Sea • Fishing operations in Q2 & Q3 every year • Fishing vessels formerly on Soviet flag • Reflagged to; • Baltic states • Caribbean states • Central American • Georgia • Fishery becoming increasingly more difficult due to • NEAFC IUU lists • Closing of ports • Iceland closed its ports at an early stage while IUU vessels were still allowed to enter some European ports • Repeated protests from Iceland within NEAFC • Icelandic Coast Guard reported several sightings and gave numerous warnings with a standardised text

5. Transhipment and bunkering services • Warnings issued by the Icelandic Coast Guard to • Transhipment vessels • Supply vessels • Transhipment operations taking place distantly • 200 nm south of fishing area • Supply vessel aborted refuelling operation after warning from an Icelandic Coast Guard vessel • IUU fishing vessels unable to continue fishing for some time

6. Regular patrol in the area • Icelandic Coast Guard conducted regular patrol of the area by • Maritime Patrol Aircraft • Ocean Patrol Vessel • All sightings reported into the NEAFC system

7. Use of new technique to counter IUU VDS during the redfish season in the Irminger Sea • Use of Vessel Detection System (VDS) to counter IUU fishing • VDS has been used by the Icelandic Coast Guard in cooperation with the EU since 2001 • Based on Low Earth Orbiting Satellites using Synthetic Apparatus Radar • Image window 300 x 300 kilometres • Automatically correlated with VMS information • Unknown targets highlighted • IUU vessels automatically highlighted as no VMS information available Processed VDS image of vessels fishing for redfish in the Irminger Sea 19th May 2007

8. The Polestar case • Polestar, a refrigerated cargo vessel operated in the Irminger Sea in 2006 • Tried to hide the operation • Received number of warnings from the Icelandic Coast Guard • Put on the NEAFC IUU list • Tracked to Asia • Cooperation between Iceland, Norway and the EU • Problematic to land the cargo • Unable to enter ports of NEAFC and NAFO CPs • This marked the end of IUU activity in the Irminger Sea

9. Special measures in Iceland to counter IUU • All known IUU vessels are registered in the Coast Guard’s database • The Coast Guard Operations centre is a “Single Point Of Contact” for all maritime related notifications as well as the GMDSS services • Therefore, upon receiving a notification from any registered IUU vessel, an automatic warning is displayed for the operator • Furthermore; • Iceland has closed its ports for vessels not fulfilling the requirements of the NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement and applicable special measures for redfish fishery in the Irminger Sea • Icelandic Coast Guard has however rendered emergency medical services to vessels, regardless of their activity or IUU status

10. Summary • Elimination of IUU activity; Key factors • Introduction of IUU lists • Coast Guard issued several warnings to fishing, transhipment and support vessels • Operators becoming increasingly more aware of the NEAFC measures • Extensive cooperation between partners • Denial of port services in all CP ports • Combination of NEAFC and NAFO IUU lists • NEAFC / NAFO Port State Control Even though IUU activity in this area has been more or less eliminated as of today, all parties must remain vigilant

11. Questions ?