University of British Columbia study – Insurance industry unknowingly supports illegal fishing
Many boats involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing are able to get insurance, suggesting that the insurance industry is inadvertently supporting illegal fishing, according to new Canadian research. But that means it may also be able to help curb that kind of activity, say researchers at the University of British Columbia. The most popular type of maritime insurance is called protection and indemnity insurance, and it’s required by law for many vessels larger than 1,000 gross tonnes. It protects vessel operators in case of third-party liability or pollution deemed to be caused by the vessel. The researchers went through lists of 480 confirmed or suspected illicit fishing boats, such as the European Commission’s Regional fisheries management organisation’s IUU list and Interpol’s Purple Notice lists. Among those, they found 67 vessels listed as insured clients of 17 different maritime insurers who posted lists of their clients online, the researchers reported in a recent article in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Read the rest here 11:50
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