In February 2019, several NGOs filed a complaint asking the EU to launch an infringement procedure against Italy for failure to comply with its monitoring obligations
On February 2019, several NGOs filed a complaint asking the Commission to launch an infringement procedure against Italian authorities for failure to adopt measures to monitor vessels flying their flag and operating in Sierra Leone waters. Our coalition, together with the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Professional Organizations (CAOPA), the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM), Danish Living Seas and Bloom gathered evidence that these trawlers were carrying out activities that can be considered serious contravention of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and that Italian authorities have not taken action to investigate or stop them.
At the beginning of March, the aforementioned NGOs met with DG Mare representatives to provide further details on the complaint. Five months after filing of the complaint, CFFA received a letter from the same DG Mare representatives requesting additional and very detailed information and factual elements about the alleged violations committed by the Italian trawlers. In response to this, CFFA sent a letter to the director general of DG Mare, Mr. Aguiar Machado stating that the coalition already provided “more than enough for the Commission to inquire about the activity of these vessels in Sierra Leone.” Furthermore, CFFA underscored that the Commission has access to certain data that NGOs do not have access to: “As Guardian of the Treaty and in cooperation with Italy, the Commission has the duty and the means to check where and what the vessels in question were fishing.”
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To recall, these vessels presumably made incursions to areas reserved for artisanal fisheries, caught unauthorized species and transshipped without the authorization of Sierra Leone. Even more, Greenpeace, Oceana and CFFA already documented illegal operations by these big trawlers including catching sharks, infringing rules on finning, illegal incursion in neighboring countries, and fishing with the inadequate gear in The Gambia. These vessels can threaten the sustainability of fish stocks and interfere with local small-scale fishermen endangering their livelihoods. In its response letter, CFFA again urged the Commission to initiate the infringement proceedings against Italy and inquire about the alleged failure of Italian authorities to control the activities of the vessels flying their flags.