Illegal cod fishing in Arctic threatening fisheries: WWF

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

GENEVA (AFP) — Illegal fishing of cod and pollock in the Arctic is a transnational crime that is putting the health of fisheries at risk, a report published Wednesday by conservation group WWF shows.

The illegal activity is also adding pressure on fish stocks that are already feeling the impact of climate change, said the report.

Some 70 percent of the world's white fish supply originates from the Arctic. Among these are the Russian Alaska pollock and Barents Sea cod which account for about a quarter of the world's white fish supply.

In 2005, over 100,000 tonnes of illegal cod valued at 225 million euros (350 million dollars) were caught in the Barents Sea.

Efforts to clamp down have resulted in the halving of such illegal landings of cod, but the...