A WORD ABOUT REFLAGGING 



Reflagging, registering a vessel in another country, is a growing concern for fishery managers around the 

 world. Reflagging is done for many reasons. The simplest case is a vessel owner in one country selling a vessel 

 to a new owner in a different country. In other cases, local requirements may require all joint venture fisheries' 

 vessels to fly the flag of one particular country. In some instances, and particularly for older and less efficient 

 vessels, fishermen may not be able to operate profitably in one country and may reflag their vessel in another where 

 taxes, fuel costs, and crew salaries are less onerous. While there are several major reasons for reflagging a vessel, 

 one reason of growing concern is reflagging to avoid internationally agreed measures for the conservation and 

 management of living marine resources. By reflagging a vessel with a country that is not a signatory to an 

 agreement designed to manage and/or conserve living marine resources, a vessel may avoid the 

 regulations/conservation measures for a regional area. The problem is compounded by the fact that many of the 

 countries frequently used for reflagging simply do not have the staff to monitor the fishing operations of their 

 flagged vessels throughout the world. The issue of reflagging is gaining international attention and is the subject of 

 the proposed Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures for 

 Fishing Vessels on the High Seas approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 

 November 1993 for ratification by interested States. 



SPECIAL NOTICE: In the preparation of this report, the authors noted that in many instances reflagging simply 

 involved the transfer of ownership from one owner to another. The reasons for other reflaggings were less clear. 

 However, the purpose of this project was to identify trends and the results obtained through our research efforts 

 show that reflagging has increased sharply in the last few years. 



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