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Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentacion. (2002). Fisheries in Spain. Madrid, Spain: Jose Ortega.
Flag Hopping and Fishing Under flags under Flags of convenienceConvenience:*
A major problem facing the enforcement of international fishing regulations is the issue of flag hopping and fishing under flags of convenience. The phenomenon is a direct result of many countries opening their fishing registries to fishing companies of other nationalities. By allowing this, countries can increase the revenue that they gain from fishing, and this has made the idea of open registry very popular in poorer countries such as Panama and Bolivia. All of this sounds fine, when the country allowing open registry follows international protocol. However, the reason flag hopping is so detrimental to international fishing regulations is that many countries where open registry is popular, do not abide by international fishing laws nor do they sign on to international treaties. This means that fishing companies that register under the flag of these countries no longer have to abide by these laws either. They can go into marine reserves and fish, they can fish as much as they want to and with no fear of repercussion, and if they country decides that they wish to comply with international regulations then the fishing company can simply switch flags in order to continue fishing outside of regulations, hence the term flag hopping. Boats can switch flags without ever docking in the port of the country that they wish to switch to. This phenomenon creates a tremendous loophole in the enforcement of international fishing regulations and negatively curbs the effects of fishing regulations One of the only effective ways proposed to solve this issue is fish trade restrictions with countries who do not comply with international fishing regulations and allow companies under them to do the same. This provides a strong economical incentive for these countries to join an international fishing policy and abide by it, making it more profitable for them to follow environmental policy than it is for them to disregard it and leaving flag hoppers with nowhere to jump.
Main Source: "Fishing Under Flags of Convenience: Using Market Power to Increase Compliance with International Regulations" Elizabeth R. Desombre. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005
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