likely that EC fishermen will have more limited 

 access at much higher costs than was the situation 

 before Namibian independence. 



• Stricter EC fleet reduction programs: The 



authors expect that the EC will take a much firmer 

 approach to decommissioning schemes and will 

 demand significant reductions before allowing 

 modernization or new vessel construction grants to be 

 approved. The EC has already announced that it will 

 not award any grants for new vessel construction in 

 1993." This reflects a new, tougher approach to the 

 question of fleet size. 



2. Non-EC fleet 



The authors believe that it is unlikely that large 

 numbers of high-seas vessels from the non-EC 

 Nordic countries will be sold or redeployed in 

 distant -water fisheries during the next few years. 

 This is especially true for Norway, where fishermen 

 are reporting excellent catches. Low recruitment of 

 northern cod and other high-value species, however, 

 will adversely affect earnings of Icelandic and 

 Faroese fishermen. This may force the sale of small 

 numbers of high-seas vessels from these two 

 countries. Thus the authors believe that 15-1- vessels 

 from the Faroe Islands might be sold in the next two 

 years along with 10-1- vessels from Greenland. The 

 authors also believe that a few ships, possibly as 

 many as 5-1- vessels, might be sold by Norwegian 

 firms for a variety of reasons, including the desire to 

 purchase more modem vessels. Many of these ships 

 are likely to be purchased by buyers in South 

 America or in the Commonwealth of Independent 

 States, although at this time, this is speculation. 



was not a significant in 1991, involved a few vessels 

 in 1992, but involved over 100 vessels in 1993. 



Table 3.— Former West European and Canadian 

 fishing vessels reflagged in foreign ports, 1993. 



Country 



Reflagged vessels 



Number 



Total 102 - 1 10 



Source: Office of Naval Intelligence. U.S. Navy. 



Vessels 



identified under Honduras are not identified as European vessels, 

 but have names similar to those found in European fleets. Not all 

 vessels are recent additions; some of the vessels listed under Malta 

 have operated under the Maltese flag for over 15 years. 



3. Reflagging 



West European fishermen began reflagging their 

 vessels in significant numbers in 1993. Examples of 

 reflagging by West European vessels have been found 

 in Belize (a minimum of 2 vessels). Cayman Islands 

 (3 vessels), Cyprus (31 vessels), Dominican 

 Republic (a minimum of 2 vessels), Malta (33 

 vessels), Panama (28 vessels), St. Vincent (a 

 minimum of 3 vessels). A Belgium company and a 

 Spanish company are currently operating reflagged 

 Taiwanese longliners out of Honduras. Reflagging 

 by European vessels increased dramatically in 1993. 

 Reflagging of West European and Canadian vessels 



