15 countries sign Mombasa declaration vs illegal fishing
Fifteen countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific adopted a declaration on Wednesday to step up efforts to combat illegal fishing, a practice that experts say costs the world economy up to $50 billion annually.
The “Mombasa declaration,” named after the Kenyan city hosting the 11th Our Ocean Conference, calls on governments to improve access to information on fishing vessels, ownership and licensing, and to strengthen data sharing to better track fishing activities and enforce regulations.
Out of the more than 30 countries represented in the summit, Belgium, Cameroon, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and South Korea signed the agreement.
The signatories said in a statement the measures are intended to curb illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, also known as IUU fishing, which threatens marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fisheries.
Illegal fishing disproportionately affects coastal communities and small-scale fishers, particularly in developing countries, by depleting fish stocks, undermining food security, and distorting markets.
The declaration builds support for the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency, a set of 10 policy principles aimed at improving governance through low-cost reforms, including modernizing vessel registries and publishing fishing authorizations.
