Pirate Fishing:plundering West-Africa

Abstract

Pirate fishing by vessels flying Flags of Convenience (FOC) has become an issue internationally. They target primarily the high value species, such as shrimp, tuna, squid and others, and will fish anywhere in the world in order to catch them - on the high seas where there are no controls, in coastal waters of States which do not have the means of defending their waters against them. In several fisheries, such pirates are having a serious impact on the stocks, in some cases, it is estimated, making larger catches than the legitimate catches by vessels which participate in proper management regimes.