Wednesday, 6 July 2016

Insurers inadvertently support illegal fishing: study

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Insurers inadvertently support illegal fishing: study


Illicit fishing costs the global economy $10 to 20 billion annually each year


Staff with files from CBC on July 6, 2016


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Maritime insurers are inadvertently supporting illegal fishing, researchers from the University of British Columbia argue in a study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The study examined 94 insured ships on regional fisheries management organizations’ Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated lists, as well as 837 legal vessels that are required to buy protection and indemnity insurance because of their size. The researchers identified the insurers for 48 per cent of the IUU ships and 58 per cent of the legal ships, and the same companies often insured both.


Illegal fishing costs the global economy $10 to 20 billion annually each year.


Read: Piracy is a bigger problem for Canadian ships than you might think


“It was shocking when we found that out,” lead author Dana Miller said in a release. “Insurers should take the simple step of consulting IUU fishing vessel lists to make sure that these notorious and well-known ships are refused insurance.”


Companies that insure illegal vessels, co-author and UBC professor Rashid Sumila told CBC, are underestimating their risk and undercharging the shipowners.


But the risk to insurers is actually quite low, Michael Csorba, chairman of the International Union of Marine Insurance Inland Hull, Fishing and Yacht Committee and the president of the ocean marine division at Great American Insurance Corp., pointed out, since insurers can void policies if a client participates in illegal activity.


Read more on CBC.


 


 



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Insurers inadvertently support illegal fishing: study

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