On a quarterly basis, the Operation Headquarters of EU NAVFOR Somalia presents a detailed update on the accumulated observations of fishing activities off the coast of Somalia to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries the Directorate General (DG Mare), as last 14th of October, when our Target Audience Analyst met with the EU Fisheries inspector and Technical Advisor for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) in Brussels.
Major Sara Rivera is ATALANTA’s Target Audience Analyst of the Future Operations branch located at EU NAVFOR Operation Headquarters in Rota. One of her main responsibilities is to analyse all information on fishing vessels provided by the Force Headquarters, currently embarked on ESPS Victoria and gathered by all deployed assets in the Area of Operations. Once the information has been evaluated, an exhaustive report is then send to DG MARE.
“It is one the Operation’s core tasks to exchange information with DG MARE, which they then share with the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC). The data on fishing activities is essential in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries allowing the competent authorities to take action against offenders, who violate the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Somalia.”
Maj. Sara Rivera Lopez (ESP, Army)
Over the past three months, EU NAVFOR reported and documented more than 200 fishing-related observations.