15 Jun 2007 Bergen, Norway
- WWF-Norway has received the "Lighthouse"
award from the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries
and Coastal affairs for its work to combat
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
(IUU).
"We are very grateful for this award,"
said Maren Esmark, Marine Programme Leader
in WWF-Norway. "We fight pirates on
all seas, and this award goes to the whole
WWF marine network."
Ms Esmark was present in Bergen and received
the prize on behalf of the organization.
With the prize comes 25.000 NOK (3000 Euros),
which WWF-Norway is giving to the WWF office
in China to further develop their marine
programme.
WWF works globally to eliminate illegal
fishing, and has in particular worked on
illegal fishing of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean
and illegal cod fishing in the Barents and
Baltic Sea. WWF-Norway emphasized in their
address that this award comes as a result
of the organization's international work,
especially our offices in Moscow, Murmansk,
Brussels, London, Madrid and Switzerland.
"Receiving the award from a Norwegian
Minister means a great deal to WWF. We see
this as recognition of our international
conservation work in general, and a highlight
of our fisheries work," Ms Esmark adds.
WWF encourages the EU to take steps to
stop European vessels with member state
flags taking part in illegal fishing. In
addition, WWF urge for measures to stop
illegal fish being landed and sold within
the union.
WWF has a long history of work to tackle
pirate fishing. In 2005, WWF-Russia issued
a report estimating the illegal cod fishery
in the Barents Sea, showing that almost
every forth fish is illegally caught. In
September 2006, WWF and Greenpeace worked
together to get AIPCE's members, the European
Frozen fish association, to commit to use
purchasing guidelines for avoiding illegally
caught cod and haddock from the Barents.
WWF is in extensive dialogues with supermarkets
and retailers in Europe, US and Asia, and
the issue of illegally caught fish is an
important part of WWF's requests.
WWF's global Marine Programme has been
working to eliminate pirate fishing on all
the world's oceans for many years. This
work is supported by a cooperation with
WWL - Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics
Maren Esmark
Marine Programme Leader
WWF-Norway
