Sweden has operated a system of individual transferable quotas (ITQs) for its pelagic fleet since 2009, to reduce its fishing capacity by allowing fishermen to sell out and retire from unprofitable fishing operations. Since the introduction of the system the number of vessels and the capacity of the fleet (measured in both total engine power and gross tonnage) has decreased. However, many of the vessels that have left the fleet were not actually decommissioned, but were sold and moved to other countries and other fisheries, including the waters of occupied Western Sahara.
This report will show that Swedish fishermen are profiting by exploiting the resources in the occupied territory of Western Sahara, by shifting their businesses from Sweden to Africa, despite the fact that the Swedish government is opposing any EU fishing off the coast of Western Sahara because of concern that it infringes the rights and interests of local communities.
Greenpeace therefore demands that EU Member Stat