Warning of Fishing Chaos with New Control System
A new control system to combat illegal fishing, introduced at the turn of the year, has caused major problems in European ports, reports the Financial Times.
A new control system is facing harsh criticism from the fishing industry and countries with fishing ports. Archive image
Seven EU countries – including Italy and Estonia – have labelled the system unworkable at a fisheries meeting in Brussels. The industry is now demanding that its introduction be paused and postponed, otherwise there is a risk of delivery disruptions and fish shortages.
One importer told the newspaper that a dozen containers full of fish are stuck in Rotterdam. The authorities responsible are reportedly not responding to questions about why the catches are stuck.
An employee in the industry says that the system lacks codes for countries and fish species, while the amount of data that can be entered per catch into the system is too small.
