Swiss tackle overfishing with new law

While Switzerland makes rules, Indonesia confiscates and destroys fishing boats that do not comply with fishery laws. Reuters

In an effort to combat overfishing, Switzerland has a new ordinance banning seafood from fisheries that don’t respect catch quotas or other conservation measures.

“This new ordinance is designed to ensure that only fishery products of lawful origin – i.e. no products from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities – are imported into Switzerland,” the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary OfficeExternal link announced on Monday.

Several species of fish are threatened by overfishing. According to the office, the regulation is intended to prevent trade in illegal fishery products and ensure that Swiss consumers can enjoy seafood from legal and sustainable sources.

The law applies to marine fish such as salmon, herring, tuna and cod – whether live, fresh, chilled, frozen, salted, crushed, dried or smoked. The European Union, of which Switzerland is not a member, has had a similar policy since 2010.

On average, people in Switzerland consume about 9 kilos (20 pounds) of fish and other seafood per person per year.