Spain - A progress report on a decade of combating IUU fishing

The report finds that Spain has generally maintained steady progress in implementing the EU IUU Regulation, particularly in catch certificate verification and risk assessment. However, it notes a concerning decline in the number of refused imports and a lack of progress in the prosecution of IUU fishing activities.

• Spain has consistently verified 100% of catch certificates (CC) and processing statements (PS) for third-country fishery products since 2010, utilizing the Integrated System for the Management and Control of Illegal Fishing (SICGPI).
• The number of officials involved in IUU controls increased by 75% over the decade, rising from 94 in the 2012/2013 biennium to 165 in the 2018/2019 biennium.
• Despite an 18% increase in the volume of fishery product imports between 2012 and 2019, the number of import consignments refused by Spanish authorities dropped by nearly 70%, from 42 in 2012/2013 to 13 in 2018/2019.
• Spain has seen a decrease in total recorded infringements by over 50% between 2012 and 2019, but the number of detected serious infringements increased from 3 in the 2012/2013 and 2014/2015 periods to 11 in the 2016/2017 and 2018/2019 periods.
• The number of catch certificate validations refused for exports has increased steadily, reaching 504 in 2014/2015 and 785 in 2018/2019.
• Spain employs a risk assessment approach for verifying imports based on various data sources, including EU and RFMO vessel lists, Interpol Purple Alerts, and the EU Food Fraud network, though it lacks an automated risk analysis tool.
• The report identifies a regression or lack of progress in the prosecution of IUU fishing activities and the frequency of import refusals.

APA

Noval, N., & Marchais, Q. (2021). Spain - A progress report on a decade of combating IUU fishing. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/v1id3clg/spain-a-progress-report-on-a-decade-of-combating-iuu-fishing.pdf

Chicago

Noval, Nieves, and Quentin Marchais. Spain - A progress report on a decade of combating IUU fishing. ClientEarth, 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/v1id3clg/spain-a-progress-report-on-a-decade-of-combating-iuu-fishing.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Noval |first1=Nieves |last2=Marchais |first2=Quentin |title=Spain - A progress report on a decade of combating IUU fishing |publisher=ClientEarth |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/v1id3clg/spain-a-progress-report-on-a-decade-of-combating-iuu-fishing.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{noval2021spain, author = {Noval, Nieves and Marchais, Quentin}, title = {{Spain - A progress report on a decade of combating IUU fishing}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/v1id3clg/spain-a-progress-report-on-a-decade-of-combating-iuu-fishing.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }