Susana Villacís with representatives of Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Actions to prevent organized crime in the fishing sector ratified

ECUADOR
Thursday, September 13, 2018, 23:50 (GMT + 9)

The Ministry of Aquaculture and Fisheries ratified, within the framework of the first Regional Meeting on Fisheries Crime, held in Guayaquil, the need to maintain permanent coordination and cooperation actions with international organizations and civil society organizations to avoid the incursion and linkage of organized crime in the fishing sector.

The Regional Meeting aims to create consensus on the concept, scope and implications of this behavior; promote the exchange of good practices and experiences in their detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment; and identify areas of opportunity for the provision of technical assistance by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on the subject.

The fishing industry generates an estimated USD 148 billion a year worldwide, constituting a supply chain that hundreds of thousands of people around the world depend on.

Susana Villacís, Vice Minister of Aquaculture and Fisheries, pointed out that the low risk and high profitability of the fishing activity make the sector vulnerable to organized crime, due to the difficulty of exercising control along the coastal profile of some countries, since this effort demands a lot of resources and technology.

The vice minister said that solutions can and must be found through practical actions and constructive dialogue between companies, fishing communities, and governments. This will make it possible to find ways of consensus for an efficient and responsible management that prioritizes the reduction of poverty, access to equal opportunities and decent and equitable work, through the use of science and technology as enablers to implement sound government policies."

In the event, convened by the UNODC and the Government of Ecuador, through the Ministry of Aquaculture and Fisheries (MAP), with financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), representatives of 11 countries of the American continent , officials of international organizations and representatives of civil society organizations.

During the meeting that will conclude on September 13, topics related to fisheries crimes and the actions carried out in their countries to prevent and combat them are presented; as well as the areas of opportunity for institutional strengthening in order to make their combat more efficient.

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