Lisbon, Portugal, June 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Norway has become the first country in Europe to partner with Global Fishing Watch—an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency—and will share its vessel tracking data for the Norwegian fishing fleet on the organization’s public map.
The announcement was made at the second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal where countries from around the world are gathering to mobilize action and innovative solutions to some of the ocean’s most pressing threats.
Under the memorandum of understanding, which was signed between Global Fishing Watch and Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries, Norway has agreed to share the vessel monitoring system data for vessels 15 meters or more in length on the Global Fishing Watch map.
“Wild living marine resources are a common good and belong to everyone,” said Frank Bakke-Jensen, director general of the Directorate of Fisheries in Norway. “When a commercial fishing fleet is licensed to utilize this common good, we are obliged and committed to share fisheries data documenting the environmental footprint of commercial fishing activity. We hope that others will follow this approach and share more fisheries data.”
“We believe that improved transparency of fishing data is necessary to reduce the risk of illegal fisheries and set the groundwork for improved compliance,” said Thord Monsen,…
