AGRICULTURE REPORT - Progress on Treaty Against Fish Piracy

Broadcast date: 2-10-2009 / Written by Jerilyn Watson

From http://www.unsv.com/voanews/specialenglish/

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Everyone knows that ships are a favorite target of pirates. But another problem takes place under the
sea and often gets less attention: fish piracy. The technical term is illegal, unreported and
unregulated fishing.

Among the most common acts are fishing without permission and catching more than the limit. Other
forms of fish piracy are targeting and catching protected species and using outlawed equipment.
Some fishing nets, for example, trap whales. Another form of piracy is when species of caught fish
and catch weights go unreported or underreported.

Illegal fishing can harm local fisheries and economies. It can also
rob communities of an important food supply and endanger future
populations of some kinds of fish.

Now, United Nations officials say representatives from more than

A fish market in Burma, also known as

Myanmar

sixty countries have made progress on an international agreement to control fish piracy. Five days of
talks recently took place in Rome at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The F.A.O. says fish piracy is difficult especially for developing countries to fight. Some countries lack
good port controls. Pirates can easily land and sell their illegal catch. The problem is especially
common along the west coast of Africa and in some ports in Asia and the Pacific.

F.A.O. officials say the general ideas for an international agreement or treaty are now largely in
place. Final details, though, still need to be settled.

The negotiations involve what are known as port state measures. Under the proposed agreement,
fishing boats would be directed to a landing port specially equipped for inspections. The crews would
have to radio those ports from out at sea and request permission to land. They would also have to
provide information on their activities and the fish they are carrying.

Doing this before arrival would give port officials time to try to identify suspicious activities. Countries
that agree to the measures would share information. That way, port officials could deny entry to a
fishing boat that has committed offenses in others waters.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Now, an update to
our report two weeks ago on caterpillars eating crops in northern Liberia. The insects were feared to
be armyworms. But experts have now identified them as another species that might be more easily
contained. I'm Bob Doughty.