MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Task force to combat illegal fishing

Chile, Australia, Namibia, New Zealand and Britain have agreed the creation of a task group at ministerial level to address illegal fishing in the high seas, according to sources from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD), with main offices in Paris.

The group will be headed by UK Environment Secretary of State Elliot Morley who was named president, and Fisheries representatives from the other four country members.

The objective of the group is to elaborate proposals in 18 to 24 months time that are "politically applicable" and "financially viable" to combat the exhaustion of marine resources and illegal fishing.

The group was created during this year's third and last OECD meeting on sustainable development that includes government officials, international representatives, private sector delegates and NGOs.

Simon Upton a former New Zealand Environment Minister addressing the meeting said that 18% of world marine resources are over exploited and 9% exhausted and in the verge of complete collapse.

According to an OECD paper, false statements and incomplete information in many countries make it difficult to asses the true magnitude of the phenomenon and the damage could actually be even worse than expected.

The OECD paper also points out that it's not the lack of legislation that protects poachers, but rather the proliferation of international agreements, many of which do not impede countries from extending convenience flags to foreign vessels as well as denial to closely monitor their activities.