Illegal

Police and MAF officers took the men into custody after they seized 34 undersized crabs on sale outside a supermarket in central Apia.

ACEO Fisheries Division, Magele Etuati Ropeti said their Monitoring, Control, Surveillance and Enforcement Unit (MCSE) had been preparing for the operation three weeks prior to carrying out the sting after receiving several reports from the public regarding the sale of undersized fish and based on information collected during the Ministry’s regular site monitoring checks.

This comes after three individuals were charged for selling undersized fish.

The Ministry says it took legal action as part of its efforts to combatting unreported, illegal and unregulated fishing crimes.

Fisheries division official, Magele Etuati Ropeti, has warned that people who flout the rules protecting Samoa's inshore and offshore fisheries can expect hefty fines.

Magele also said the ministry was clamping down on people to re-sell the undersized fish.

Photo Government of Samoa  Caption: Fish on sale at the market

The action would also unveil the “persons of interest” behind IUU fishing.

FFA Director General, Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen made the call when speaking online to the recent Chatham House International Forum on IUU Fishing.

The Forum was hosted online in London from 18-22 May 2020 and was attended by global policymakers, researchers, industry representatives and civil society groups from across the world.

The keynote speech concentrated on the human elements of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, with a focus on observers, crew and “Persons of Interest”.

The five-man bench ruled that the detention breached the right to personal liberty in the Constitution. Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, Justices Sir Bernard Sakora, Ambeng Kandakasi, Don Sawong and Terence Higgins also ordered that both Australia and Papua New Guinea Governments take all necessary steps to stop the operations of the regional processing centre.

Around 900 men are in the detention center on the Papua New Guinean Island, according to Australian immigration authorities.

Growing numbers of countries are ratifying an international agreement to combat illegal fishing, fueling interest in how best to implement the instrument.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip between $10 billion and $23 billion from the global economy, and its impacts undermines the way fish stocks are managed to make it a double concern around the world.