Italy and Portugal were among six nations that the US Government has reported to Congress for illegal fishing.
The report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency whose responsibilities include fisheries, opens a process leading to direct consultations between the US Government and the six identified nations that have been reported for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fisheries (IUU) in 2009 and 2010.
The other nations pointed out were Columbia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela.
Violations of international agreements mentioned in the report included non-compliance with rules about closed fishing seasons, vessel registry lists and the use of driftnets; as well as illegal gear modifications, fishing without authorization and possession of undersized bluefin tuna, a severely threatened species.
Italy was also identified in the 2009 report to Congress, along with France, China, Libya, Panama and Tunisia, but NOAA now declared that “while Italy and Panama took corrective actions for illegal fishing identified in the 2009 report, other vessels from these countries still engaged in IUU fishing, which included illegal use of driftnets and fishing in an area when it was closed to purse seine nets”.
A press release from the agency pointed out that, if a nation identified in the report fails to “take appropriate action”, vessels from that nation can be blocked from entry in US ports, and the president may ban import from that nation of certain fish products.