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. 



VI 



