OCTOBER 2022 l VOL 71 ISSUE 8
worldfishing.net
Viewpoint 3 | Insight 12 | Fishing Technology 20 | Opinion 26
EUROPE REMAINS WIDE OPEN TO ILLEGAL FISH EU member states are being urged to step-up the fight against illegal fishing after a special report compiled by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found the “uneven way” in which checks and sanctions are being applied across the bloc to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is being exploited by unscrupulous operators. The auditors are recommending that the European Commission should monitor that member states reinforce their control systems for preventing the import of illegal fishery products and also ensure that they apply dissuasive sanctions against illegal fishing in EU waters and beyond. “The EU has control systems in place to make it harder for illegally fished products to reach consumers,” said Eva Lindström, the ECA member who led the audit. “But in spite of those measures, these products keep ending up on EU citizens’ plates. One key reason is that checks and sanctions are applied unevenly by member states.” According to the auditors, the catchcertification scheme set up in 2008 to guarantee the legality of imported fishery products had improved traceability and reinforced import controls, but the scheme remains paper-based, which entails an increased risk of fraud. A single electronic database at EU level would be more effective, the auditors say.
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Through the IT system CATCH, developed by the European Commission in 2019, the EU already has a system to help detect fraud and to automate controls. However, no member state currently uses it, confirmed Lindström. Furthermore, after finding that in some member states, sanctions aren’t discouraging enough to deter illegal fishing, because they’re not proportionate to the economic benefit derived from the infringements, the auditors recommend that the Commission should work on the uniform and effective application of a dissuasive sanctioning system. Additionally, they are calling for the penalty-point system to be harmonised across member states. See Insight – page 12.
NORWAY PROPOSES NEW TAX ON SALMON FARMING The Government of Norway has announced plans to introduce a new resource rent tax on aquaculture with effect from 1 January 2023. Its proposal, which needs to be approved by parliament, covers the production of salmon, trout and rainbow trout and involves the taxation of resource rent at an effective rate of 40%. A tax-free allowance of between 4,000 and 5,000 tonnes will be granted for smaller-scale producers, which applies to 65-70% of the country’s aquaculture companies. An effective resource rent tax rate of 40% means that the formal resource rent tax rate is set at 51.3%. Including corporate tax, the total effective marginal tax is 62%.
The move could generate proceeds of between NOK 3.65 and 3.8 billion, with the intention to pass half of the revenues collected to public funds. Announcing its proposal, the government explained that Statistics Norway had identified substantial resource rent in the aquaculture industry over several years. Resource rent in aquaculture has risen strongly since 2012 and for the period 2016 to 2018 totalled over NOK 20 billion. With resource rent for 2021 estimated at NOK 11.8 billion, the government said it is reasonable for society to receive a share of the extraordinary return generated through the exploitation of the resources that it utilises, mainly the fjords and sea areas. As WF went to press, an updated tax proposal was put forward by Faroese authorities.
NEW HORIZONS
Keeping tabs on HABs page 14
NEWBUILDS
Prion ordered for South Atlantic page 17
AQUACULTURE
Energy crisis brings anxious times page 28