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OTTAWA – The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, today announced joint at-sea inspection patrols in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Regulatory Area. This is a concrete step towards real reform of control and enforcement in NAFO.
"This partnership will strengthen the inspection process for Canada and the EU," said Minister Hearn. "By working together, we’ll be able to stop more would-be violators of the rules in order to protect fish stocks for the benefit of many."
"The significance of the EU and Canada partnership in NAFO cannot be understated," said Commissioner Borg. "NAFO members must take action together to address all illegal fishing activities – joint inspection patrols are just one way the EU and Canada are joining forces to do just that."
Joint patrols will increase confidence and overcome misunderstandings, as well as make the deployment of inspection resources more effective and cost-efficient. Beginning July 20, inspectors from the European Union and Canada will undertake joint at-sea patrols in the NAFO Regulatory Area. There will also be joint aerial surveillance of the area.
Minister Hearn and Commissioner Borg decided to combine inspection efforts to stop illegal fishing during a bilateral meeting in Paris in March 2006. Senior officials from Canada and the EU continued their discussions this week on further co-operation and steps to combat illegal fishing in the NAFO area.
Canada has been actively pursuing co-operative, international efforts to address the problem of illegal fishing. The joint enforcement patrols are part of Canada’s strategy to combat global overfishing and improve the way the world’s fish stocks are managed.
Combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) activities internationally is a major political priority for the EU, and it is active in promoting measures to address this issue in all regional fisheries management organizations.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
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Sophie Galarneau
Manager, Media Relations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
(613) 990-7537
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Steve Outhouse
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
(613) 992-3474 |
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NR-HQ-06-21E |
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