Government. More than 80 large Russian/East 

 European-built vessels have been transferred to Latin 

 American coimtries. 



H. WESTERN EUROPE 



West European fishing fleets harvest 

 approximately 12-percent of the world's fish and 

 shellfish. This harvest is usually sold fresh or is 

 processed into high-value seafood generating billions 

 of dollars in world markets. European fishermen 

 operate a range of fishing vessels, from small coastal 

 vessels to factory trawlers. Unlike fishermen from 

 some Asian countries, the West Europeans tend to 

 fish close to home - in the North Atlantic and the 

 Mediterranean. 



The EC 



The EC has worked assiduously to negotiate a 

 network of fishery agreements on behalf of its 

 member states and over 800 EC-flag fishing vessels 

 currently fish from various ports along the coast of 

 Africa and into the Indian Ocean. The EC is now 

 attempting to open access to Latin American waters 

 for their fishing vessels because several important 

 stocks of North Atlantic fish, such as Atlantic cod, 

 have collapsed in recent years. This has placed a 

 tremendous financial burden on the fishing industries 

 of many EC coimtries dependent upon fisheries in the 

 North Atlantic region. In 1993, over 100 West 

 European vessels were reflagged to foreign registry. 

 This number could double if EC negotiators are 

 imable to obtain access to Namibia in 1994, or if 

 Argentina fails to ratify the bilateral agreement 

 allowing EC vessels to fish in its waters in 1994. 



Despite a fleet of nearly 800 high-seas fishing 

 vessels, only 7-8 West European-flag vessels are 

 believed to be fishing on the high-seas in the Atlantic 

 and Pacific in 1993. The vessels that currently fish 

 the high-seas include: the German-flag vessels Jan 

 Maria, the Dirk Dirk, and the Gerda Maria and the 

 Dutch-flag vessels Dirk Diederick, Franziska, 

 Cornells Vrolijk Fzn, and Zeeland. These vessels are 

 built to roam the oceans of the world, catching or 

 "klondiking" (buying), processing, and freezing up to 

 250 tons of herring, mackerel, or horse mackerel a 

 day. One tuna purse seiner, the Isabel Tuna, flying 

 the Cypriot flag, is currently fishing in the Eastern 

 Tropical Pacific. A Spanish tuna purse seiner, the 



Monteclaro, reportedly sank in this same area on 

 July 14, 1993. 



EC countries may redeploy or decommission 

 over 200 high-seas fishing vessels by 1996. Spain, 

 Portugal, and the United Kingdom will mainly 

 redeploy their vessels in the next 2 years, but some 

 vessels may be decommissioned. Greece, France, 

 Germany, and Denmark, will mostly deconmiission 

 their vessels. Some vessels may be involved in joint 

 ventiu'e arrangements allowing the transfer of 

 ownership in return for access to the resource for a 

 limited period of time. Most Spanish and Portuguese 

 vessels will be deployed off Namibia and Argentina 

 as foreign-flag vessels fishing with coastal state 

 licenses, or as part of a joint venture arrangement 

 with companies in the coastal country. 



Argentina - The EC initialed an agreement with 

 Argentina during December 1992. The agreement 

 was a major policy change for the Argentines who 

 had previously imposed restrictive conditions for 

 access. The agreement will permit 70 EC vessels to 

 fish off Argentina under various joint venture 

 arrangements. Most of these vessels will be Spanish. 

 The agreement has not yet been ratified by 

 Argentina. 



Namibia - The EC has not yet been able to negotiate 

 an access agreement with Namibia, although it 

 remains a high priority. Namibia has, to date, 

 rejected all EC offers to negotiate a fisheries 

 agreement. Namibia ended all foreign fishing in its 

 200-mile EEZ when it became independent in 1991. 

 This affected 200 Spanish and 10 Portuguese vessels. 

 Namibian officials now report that the country's hake 

 stocks are recovering and that they hope to market 

 this popular fish in EC markets. They will require 

 EC concurrence to do so. It is likely that bilateral 

 fishery negotiations between the EC and Namibia will 

 resume in 1993 or 1994. It is unknown if all 210 EC 

 vessels, which fished there before 1991, will be able 

 to remm to Namibian waters. Those that caimot will 

 likely be sold, transferred to other non-fishing 

 operations, or scrapped. 



Indian Ocean - The EC has negotiated a series of 

 agreements which provide access for EC tuna seiners 

 to Indian Ocean resources. This fleet may expand 

 slowly in the next few years, especially if Italian 

 vessels join this fleet. 



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