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Brussels has decided to place Yaoundé on the list of countries “ non-cooperative in the fight against illegal unreported and unregulated fishing “. The Commission had already warned the Cameroonian authorities in February 2021 accusing them of not sufficiently combating illegal fishing.
The European Commission will ask the Council of the European Union, that is to say the ministers of the Member States, to place the country on a blacklist of sanctioned States… In Brussels language, this is called “a red card” . Since 2013, six other countries have already received one, including Comoros, Guinea and Sri Lanka. Clearly, Cameroon will be excluded from the European seafood market.
The European Commissioner for Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkervicius, criticizes the Yaoundé authorities for having done nothing for a year to curb illegal fishing. Cameroon, he says, has even continued to register fishing vessels operating outside its waters without any monitoring of their activities ».
On a practical level, this ban on fishery products does not change anything for Cameroon, which does not export to Europe for reasons of non-compliance with health rules. Still, the signal sent is negative. Since 2010, the European Union has practiced zero tolerance towards illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, in order to contribute to the preservation of marine biodiversity. Illegal fishing is particularly that which takes place in fish breeding grounds or in protected areas.