​International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported a

   Ensuring that sustainability of fisheries are not compromised by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.  

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Monitor and expose illegal fishing activities to national and international authorities.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing exploits the natural resources of coastal nations, reduces economic opportunities, and threatens food security—particularly in developing countries. Those that participate in illegal fishing break or avoid the law by operating without a license, fishing where it is forbidden, using illegal gear, catching endangered species, or taking more than what is allowed.

Illegal fishers avoid national and international rules and operate outside the reach of government control. They not only hide their vessels at sea, but also use shell companies and tax havens to mask their identity and hide money flows. They often carry out their activities in an organised, systematic way globally, involving structured criminal networks. For these fishers, it is currently a low-risk activity that delivers big profits.  

In the battle to eliminate IUU fishing over the past 20 years, Oceana has both identified illegal operators and persuaded governments to strengthen regulation. Using state-of-the-art tools like Global Fishing Watch, we closely monitor and expose illegal fishing activities to national and international authorities, as well as promote the need for more transparency in the sector to stop illegal activities at EU and national level. We also work with the private sector to make it more difficult for illegal fishers to obtain the essential services they need to operate.

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing exploits the natural resources of coastal nations, reduces economic opportunities, and threatens food security—particularly in developing countries.

Those that participate in illegal fishing break or avoid the law by operating without a license, fishing where it is forbidden, using illegal gear, catching endangered species, or taking more than what is allowed.

Illegal fishers avoid national and international rules and operate outside the reach of government control. They not only hide their vessels at sea, but also use shell companies and tax havens to mask their identity and hide money flows. They often carry out their activities in an organised, systematic way globally, involving structured criminal networks. For these fishers, it is currently a low-risk activity that delivers big profits.  

In the battle to eliminate IUU fishing over the past 20 years, Oceana has both identified illegal operators and persuaded governments to strengthen regulation. Using state-of-the-art tools like Global Fishing Watch, we closely monitor and expose illegal fishing activities to national and international authorities, as well as promote the need for more transparency in the sector to stop illegal activities at EU and national level. We also work with the private sector to make it more difficult for illegal fishers to obtain the essential services they need to operate.

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Partnering with countries.

The Sea Shepherd approach their relationships with care, sensitivity, and a service-oriented mentality, which has led to thei partner governments advocating on be their half to new potential partners. This continued patience and trust are crucial for achieving our goal of being a leading voice in conservation and legislative reform. Sea Shepherd strategically partners with countries based on several criteria to ensure our efforts have the greatest impact. They assess the potential partner's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), considering factors such as the prevalence of illegal fishing, the importance of their biodiversity, and economic impact on coastal communities. We evaluate the country's commitment to conservation and willingness to engage in partnership, prioritizing strong political will and collaboration readiness. The Sea Shepherd also consider whether partnering with the country would allow them to great impact on future conservation policies and create protected areas, leading to broader conservation efforts and policy reforms. Finally, they assess whether the partnership would open doors to other high-impact areas, encouraging neighboring countries to collaborate with them.

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Highlights from IUU Campaigns.

Sea shepherd work in Africa began in 2016 with a partnership in Gabon to combat IUU fishing. This successful collaboration validated our strategy and paved the way for further partnerships. Since then, we have partnered with the governments of Liberia, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Benin, Namibia, and The Gambia. Recently, we extended our IUU partnerships outside of Africa to include Tuvalu in the South Pacific.

As of 2024, Sea Shepherd has assisted our partners across Africa in the arrest of 98 vessels. More importantly, these patrols have proven to be a powerful deterrent to further incursions of IUU operators. James Logan, one of the local fishermen in Liberia, said about Sea Shepherd’s presence: “When the big boat shows up, the trawlers leave.”

This method of deterrence has been proven in anti-poaching efforts on land, but we are the only organization that has brought it to the sea. It’s hard to overstate just how impactful even a day is being on patrol in previously unpatrolled waters - every single day that an arrested vessel is detained in port or refrains from fishing out of fear of arrest, their nets are not in the water, which equates to tens of thousands of fish remaining in the water per day, per trawler.

Here are just a few of the notable results from our patrols:

1. Gabon - Suspension of Shrimp Fishery: In 2021, the Minister of Fisheries in Gabon joined us aboard to witness firsthand what was happening at sea. During one boarding, a shrimp fishing boat had an estimated catch of 0.2% shrimp to 99.8% bycatch by weight, with most of the bycatch being thrown overboard dead. This prompted the Minister to immediately suspend the entire shrimp fishery in Gabon to allow the waters to recover.

2. Liberia – A Half Million Sharks Per Year Saved: One of the significant successes in our campaign with the Liberian Coast Guard was the arrest of the internationally-blacklisted vessel Labiko 2 in 2017. This vessel, which had been using prohibited deep-water gillnets, was found with a shark liver oil production facility on board capable of processing over 500,000 sharks per year. This operation highlighted the devastating impact of the unregulated shark liver oil industry and demonstrated the effectiveness of our joint patrol efforts. In 2019 Sea Shepherd Global was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the highest military award given by the Ministry of National Defense and the Armed Forces of Liberia, recognizing exceptional service to the Republic of Liberia.

3. Benin - Record Penalties for Illegal Fishing: We began working in Benin in 2019, assisting the government with the arrest of three ships fishing illegally inside a marine park. These were the first arrests in Benin for illegal fishing, and the perpetrators were prosecuted and given the maximum penalty of a $50,000 fine. This case spurred legal reforms, increasing penalties for IUU fishing to over $1,000,000. Two years later, we assisted in the arrest of another two ships, which were prosecuted under the amended law. Each ship was fined over $250,000, and the captains were sentenced to 11 months of imprisonment. Since then, no further cases of illegal fishing have been detected in Benin.

4. The Gambia - Deterrence of Illegal Fishing: The Gambia's waters have been particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing activity. Out of the 98 vessels arrested for illegal fishing through our partnerships across Africa, 34 were apprehended in The Gambia. In early 2024 we assisted in the arrest of eight industrial trawlers, seven which were fishing inside of a Special Management Area reserved for artisanal fishermen (and where industrial fishing is outlawed), four which were using fishing nets with undersized mesh size, and all which had stopped transmitting their positions via the mandatory Automatic Identification System (AIS). In past patrols, vessels were found with hidden shark fins onboard, using illegal nets, and falsely labelling boxes of fish for export to the European market as “Sustainable Certified”.

5. Sierra Leone – Mass Exodus of Illegal Fishing Vessels: During our patrol in Sierra Leone in 2023, we saw 70 ships head back to port the moment we started patrolling, as they knew they wouldn’t pass a boarding. “I remember watching a parade of ships—dozens and dozens of them—filing into the Port of Freetown, because inspections were underway. The combined fishing efforts of seventy ships ground to a stop for the duration of the mission. It is the belief of Sea Shepherd Global that none of them had valid fishing licenses,” said Captain Peter Hammarstedt.

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 Strategies to Combat IUU Fishing.

Proposal for the Combat of IUU Fishing  

1. Partnerships with Governments for At-Sea Patrols: We partner with countries to enhance their capacity to enforce existing fisheries regulations and deter IUU fishing within their EEZ. Sea Shepherd has a fleet of well-equipped vessels staffed with experienced crews and volunteers, including captains, marine engineers, deckhands, and media teams. Government officials join our crews during at-sea patrols to conduct inspections and enforce regulations with the power of arrest, escorting them back to port for justice. These patrols not only establish a law enforcement presence at sea, they also illuminate where laws need to be amended and fines increased to deter illegal actors.

2. Advanced Monitoring Technologies: Collaborations with organizations like Global Fishing Watch and Skylight enhance our ability to monitor vast ocean areas through the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), AIS, and satellite imagery to track fishing vessel movements and identify suspicious activities such as "dark vessels" that turn off their transponders to avoid surveillance. This allows us and our partners to target enforcement efforts more effectively.

3. Training and Capacity Building: We provide training for local law enforcement officials in surveillance techniques, boarding procedures, marine conservation issues, and legal protocols for prosecuting offenders. This empowers local authorities to sustain enforcement and conservation efforts independently.

4. Public Awareness: While it’s incredibly important to be on the frontlines using direct action to combat IUU fishing, it’s also crucial to document it. Not many people, including lawmakers, let alone the public, have the access that we do. Our social media reach, documentaries, and press coverage raise awareness on the issues of IUU fishing and its impacts on marine ecosystems and coastal communities, mobilizing public support for stronger regulations and empowering consumers to make more informed decisions. We’ve been featured on prominent platforms and documentaries such as Netflix's "Seaspiracy," Animal Planet's "Ocean Warriors," National Geographic's "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller," and Sir David Attenborough's "A Perfect Planet.” Our stories have also been featured in publications like The New York Times and The New Yorker, shining an important spotlight on what’s really happening at sea, and previously hidden from public scrutiny.

5. Advocacy for Policy Change: Advocating for stronger national and international policies is crucial. Engaging with policymakers, stakeholders, and international bodies to push for stricter regulations, higher penalties for offenders, and increased funding for enforcement can drive significant changes. Sea Shepherd's collaboration with governments to amend and enforce fishing laws exemplifies the impact of sustained advocacy efforts.

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Help the countries fill enforcement gaps through a multi-faceted approach that combines international cooperation, advanced technology, capacity building, and direct enforcement

While international agreements and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) provide essential frameworks for cooperation and regulation, these frameworks are ineffective without robust monitoring and enforcement practices.

About 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are not publicly tracked, according to research by conservation organization Global Fishing Watch (GFW), making it difficult for authorities to monitor their activities. IUU fishing vessels equipped with the required Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) can turn it off to avoid detection, making it challenging to track them without advanced satellite technology. Finally, many countries lack the resources to conduct regular at-sea patrols throughout their waters, which are crucial for monitoring fishing activities and enforcing regulations.

The countries Sea Shepherd partners with need assistance in patrolling their waters. Often these countries receive complaints from coastal fishers who find their waters plundered by these trawlers, yet find their hands are tied because they don't have the vessel asset to intercept the law breakers. To protect local fishers' livelihoods, West African governments have established Inshore Exclusion Zones (IEZs) reserved for artisanal fishing, where industrial fishing is outlawed. However, without regular patrols, industrial trawlers routinely violate these IEZs, damaging canoes, destroying small-scale fishing nets, and stealing fish from vulnerable communities.

Sea Shepherd steps in to help the countries fill these enforcement gaps through a multi-faceted approach that combines international cooperation, advanced technology, capacity building, and direct enforcement.

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Why is IUU Fishing a Problem?

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly highlighted the grave issue of IUU fishing, recognizing it as a major threat on multiple levels:

Threat to Marine Wildlife and Ecosystems: IUU fishing severely impacts marine biodiversity. It decimates fish populations, disrupts food chains, and results in high bycatch rates, where non-target species like dolphins, sharks, and turtles are unintentionally caught and killed. Bycatch from IUU fishing can be extensive, with hundreds of thousands of marine animals, including endangered species, being discarded dead or dying. This indiscriminate fishing threatens the survival of many marine species and disrupts the balance of ocean ecosystems.

Economic Impact: IUU fishing costs developing nations between $2 to $15 billion in economic losses annually. This economic strain threatens coastal economies that rely heavily on fishing for their livelihoods.

Threat to Coastal Communities: Millions of people in low-income countries depend on fish as their primary source of protein and fishing as their main livelihood. IUU fishing reduces the availability of fish for local consumption and economic activities. This leads to food insecurity and increased poverty among coastal populations. For example, the depletion of local fish populations forces fishers to travel further and spend more time at sea, oftentimes out of sight of land, putting their lives at risk.

Human Rights Violations: IUU fishing often involves human rights abuses, including forced labor and human trafficking. Fishermen working on illegal vessels may face deplorable conditions, including long hours, low or no pay, physical abuse, and lack of safety measures. These conditions violate basic human rights and labor standards. Reports have documented cases where crew members are subjected to inhumane treatment, confined on vessels for months or even years, and denied access to medical care.

Undermining Conservation Efforts: IUU fishing makes it difficult to collect accurate data on fish populations, hindering effective management and conservation strategies. This unregulated exploitation of the ocean jeopardizes global efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, particularly those related to life below water (SDG 14).

Global Security Concerns: The illicit nature of IUU fishing contributes to broader security issues. It is often linked with other forms of transnational organized crime, such as drug trafficking and smuggling. The lack of regulation and oversight in international waters allows these illegal activities to flourish, posing a significant threat to global maritime security. Furthermore, the illegal profits from IUU fishing can fuel corruption and undermine governance in coastal states.

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Deploying innovative strategies and international collaborations to protect marine biodiversity.

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing refers to fishing activities that do not comply with national, regional, or international fisheries conservation and management laws and regulations. These activities are conducted by vessels in various ways, including:

1. Fishing without a license: Operating in a country’s waters without authorization.

2. Misreporting catches: Underreporting or not reporting the amount or species of fish caught, and therefore bypassing quota limits.

3. Using prohibited gear: Employing fishing methods or gear that are banned due to their destructive nature.

4. Fishing in protected areas: Operating in zones where fishing is restricted or banned to preserve marine ecosystems or artisanal fishing for coastal populations.

5. Transshipment at sea: Transferring fish from one vessel to another to obscure the origins of the catch.

Sea Shepherd Global stands at the forefront of the fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, deploying innovative strategies and international collaborations to protect marine biodiversity. 

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A guide to accessing fishing vessel information and activities.

In the vast expanse of the ocean, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses a significant threat to marine ecosystems, sustainable fisheries management, food security and livelihoods in coastal communities worldwide. Obscured ownership structures can facilitate the true perpetrators from not being held to account for such illicit practices. 

Tackling IUU fishing requires a clear understanding of who fishes what, how and where, highlighting the key role of transparency and access to information. Shedding light on beneficial ownership enables policymakers to identify who benefits from illegal activities and, by doing so, improve enforcement mechanisms, and foster greater collaboration among nations to combat IUU fishing and ensure the equitable and sustainable use of marine resources. 

That is why the Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, The Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF, members of the EU IUU Fishing Coalition, have collaborated with Access Info, an organisation that promotes transparency in Europe, on a comprehensive guide designed to empower civil society and journalists in their efforts to access information and hold governments and individuals accountable against their obligations under national, European Union (EU) and international regulations designed to preserve and protect marine resources. The guide starts with a simplified presentation of the basic legal framework relevant to fishing vessel activities and equips readers with the tools to unveil crucial information through a step by step approach for submitting data requests to EU institutions and national authorities and accessing beneficial ownership information. While the guide primarily focuses on the EU, it also provides references to relevant sources of information worldwide. 

Better access to information and more transparency can contribute to a healthier ocean and ensure more sustainable fisheries, benefiting both people and nature alike.

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Detecting illegal fishing is only one element of prosecuting its perpetrators.

A fishing fleet departs from a harbor after the summer fishing moratorium ended in Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu.

Over the past few years, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has moved from obscurity to recognition as a global threat, a U.S. national security concern, and the topic of a New York Times best seller. Multiple international bodies have developed agreements to combat it. The president of the United States directed executive agencies to address it. Given all this awareness and activity, it would be reasonable to think that global efforts are having an impact in countering IUU fishing.

Measurable improvement on a global scale, however, remains elusive. The IUU Fishing Risk Index benchmarks countries based on their vulnerability to, the prevalence of, and their response to IUU fishing. The 2023 biannual index report showed a slightly worse overall score compared to 2021 but broadly presented no notable global shift or improvement.

At some point, U.S. and global efforts must turn the tide on illegal fishing. Could 2024 be that turning point?

U.S. efforts in 2023

A year ago, my colleague Brad McNally wrote that in 2023, U.S. policies must be “translated into increased and tangible action.” In many ways, they were. In June, the Biden administration provided an update on steps taken to address IUU fishing. In addition to establishing numerous working groups, awareness campaigns, and high-level engagements, several actions are worth noting.

First, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) leveraged the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act at the intersection of IUU fishing and human rights abuses. They sanctioned two individuals (one Chinese national and another from Hong Kong) and the entities they control, including a NASDAQ-traded company (a first-ever for OFAC), and 157 Chinese-flagged fishing vessels.

Second, the United States continued to make progress in maritime domain awareness. Web-based SeaVision, developed by the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Navy to share a range of maritime information to improve operations and security, was expanded with functional updates and radio frequency data. It was used operationally in multiple IUU fishing enforcement cases. In addition, the Coast Guard signed a memorandum of understanding with Global Fishing Watch, an international nonprofit organization focused on advancing ocean governance through transparency.

Finally, the United States leaned into international partnerships. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, working with other agencies, led efforts to build capacity to detect, deter, and interdict IUU fishing in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The Coast Guard established an IUU Fishing Center of Expertise in Hawaii, moved a cutter to the Pacific, and developed new partnerships.

Leveraging a nexus of illicit activity

Sanctions imposed under Executive Order 13818 and the Global Magnitsky Act represent a relatively new tool that the United States can leverage against IUU fishing. Given the links between IUU fishing and forced labor and human trafficking, especially in distant-water fishing fleets, sanctioning fisheries entities for their human rights abuses could be effective in countering other illegal practices — especially IUU fishing.

There may be an opportunity to work with nonprofit organizations and investigative journalists who are already highlighting human rights abuses at sea to build sanctions justifications. For example, the nonprofit Outlaw Ocean Project partnered with the Los Angeles Times to report on human rights abuses aboard Chinese distant-water squid fishing fleets, including a recent cover story on deaths aboard such vessels. While the ships in these articles are not necessarily fishing illegally, according to a recent report, 45 of them disabled their public tracking systems for a total of 23,000 hours, a practice associated with IUU fishing.

Identifying human rights abuses and imposing sanctions are only part of the effort; making them effective is a further challenge. Many foreign entities have limited exposure to U.S. sanctions. For example, while the United States imported $1.7 billion in seafood from China in 2021, this represented less than 13% of China’s seafood exports, and, by weight, China only exported about 5% of the seafood it produced that year. In other words, losing access to the U.S. market is likely not a significant deterrence for illicit activity, especially considering that the two main companies OFAC sanctioned received millions of dollars in Chinese government subsidies.

The United States should continue to identify foreign entities operating at the nexus of IUU fishing and human rights abuses and leverage the Global Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on them. It should also, however, coordinate internationally to amplify the effect of those sanctions — encouraging partners to impose similar measures and working with the flag states of vessels identified.

In addition, the United States should explore other nexuses of illicit activity and IUU fishing. Efforts against Mexican cartels’ fentanyl trafficking should also address their diversified activities, including illegal fishing. Counternarcotics task forces could bring additional expertise and resources to countering IUU fishing, especially in areas where drug trafficking and illegal fishing overlap geographically or within the same organizations. Also important to explore are links between IUU fishing and national security, especially in light of reports that China’s distant-water fishing fleet also serves its nation’s foreign policy objectives.

China’s importance

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data illustrates the staggeringly large role China plays in the global seafood industry. China is the world’s largest producer of aquatic animal products, generating 35% of the world’s seafood in 2020. This includes 15% of global capture (non-aquaculture) fisheries, more than the second and third-ranked countries combined. China is also the world’s largest consumer of aquatic foods, alone consuming 36% of the world’s total in 2019. It is the top seafood importer and exporter by volume. China also has the world’s largest fishing fleet, with an estimated 564,000 vessels, and the world’s largest distant-water fishing fleet with nearly 3,000 vessels — more than ten times that of the United States or the European Union — and potentially many more.

Therefore, Chinese participation is critical to the global effort to counter IUU fishing, and 2023 saw China take several actions. In June, China accepted the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which protects against harmful subsidies, including for vessels engaged in IUU fishing. China’s acceptance coincided with changing its subsidies from fuel-centric to focused on fisheries stewardship. In addition, China’s 14th Five-Year Plan for Fishery Development promotes aquaculture while limiting catch and shrinking fleets, which, if successful, may also reduce IUU fishing. The Chinese government also claims to have levied over $137 million in fines for illegal fishing. Taken in context with statements from President Xi Jinping, these actions align with broader Chinese environmental and economic efforts, and likely represent China seeking a greater leadership role in global maritime policy — from which it could shape rules in its interest. That said, it remains to be seen if these changes are merely symbolic or reflect a genuine effort to counter IUU fishing.

Moving forward, China should follow through on its rhetoric regarding sustainability and regulate its fisheries while supporting international efforts to counter IUU fishing. It should join the FAO’s Port State Measures Agreement, which seeks to prevent IUU fishing vessels from landing their catches. Building on a 2023 agreement with South Korea, China should also require its fishing vessels to consistently transmit their positions via the internationally recognized automatic identification system (AIS) and prosecute those who disable it.

Maritime domain awareness

AIS is crucial because it allows nations, fisheries management organizations, and non-governmental entities to determine where vessels are operating. It can also be used to assess whether they are actively fishing, offloading to a support vessel, or just transiting. This supports maritime domain awareness, which the International Maritime Organization defines as “effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact security, safety, the economy or the marine environment.” In other words, eliminating IUU fishing requires a clear, real-time picture of where fishing vessels are and what they’re doing, at all times, everywhere in the world.

Achieving this comprehensive picture on a global scale was, until recently, impossible. Modern technologies have enabled dramatic advancements in maritime domain awareness. SeaVision, for example, combines AIS information with satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR), coastal radar, visual and infrared imagery, and radio frequency data to present a more comprehensive picture of maritime activity. Sensor fusion can be used to detect and track vessels that have disabled their AIS, potentially to pursue nefarious activity.

Artificial intelligence algorithms have been developed to process SAR data and now serve as a key component of SeaVision and other maritime domain awareness tools. Other efforts, such as NATO’s Digital Ocean Vision, seek to combine satellite-based sensors with those of autonomous systems to further improve maritime domain awareness, and autonomous vehicle manufacturers are marketing their technologies as a means to counter IUU fishing.

Nations should develop maritime domain awareness technologies, incorporating more advanced sensors and algorithms, to identify IUU fishing. Detecting illegal fishing, however, is only one element of prosecuting its perpetrators. Effective action requires the capacity to respond rapidly when IUU fishing is detected, a function that must be further developed and augmented through partnerships.

Hope for 2024

Coordinated U.S. actions, China’s adoption of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, and multilateral efforts like the IUU Fishing Action Alliance Pledge represent significant steps toward countering IUU fishing in 2023. They represent a culmination of growing international awareness and pressure and must be expanded. International cooperation, especially involving China, is critical. So too is combining maritime domain awareness tools with the capacity to respond. With these pieces in place, the world stands poised to finally make a measurable dent in IUU fishing in 2024.

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Quantifying IUU fishing.

IUU fishing is a persistent and pervasive problem that undermines effective fisheries management and runs counter to sustainable fisheries.

Understanding the types and magnitude of IUU fishing is a critical first step to combatting it. This helps countries to be aware of the economic, environmental and social impacts of the problem, to draw attention to it, and to encourage the political will needed to fight it.

Quantifying IUU fishing is not an easy task, due to the quality and quantity of existing data which vary significantly from fishery to fishery. In some cases, it can be very difficult to make precise estimates that can be compared over time.

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Maritime Boundaries (EEZ) of the world.

Marine Regions is a standard list of marine georeferenced place names and areas. It integrates and serves geographic information from the VLIMAR Gazetteer and the MARBOUND database and proposes a standard of marine georeferenced locations, boundaries and regions.

STATISTICS

63,003 marine georeferenced places

77,211 marine place names

38,953 polygons of geographic places

12 marine geographic regional/global classifications

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Strengthen efforts to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing..

Parties to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) have agreed to strengthen efforts to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

FAO said countries have committed to extend vessel inspections, exchange global information and improve the capacity of developing states.

The Fourth Meeting of the Parties, an event hosted by the Indonesian government in Bali last May 8 to 12, has endorsed a strategy to increase adherence to the PSMA.

The parties also agreed to take the Global Information Exchange System (GIES), a digital system developed by FAO at the request of the Parties, from its current pilot phase to a fully operational system by the end of this year.

“FAO is working with countries and regional fisheries management organizations to combat IUU fishing, by reviewing national legislation, identifying ways to strengthen their institutional capacity, and helping them enhance their monitoring and surveillance systems, so they can effectively implement the PSMA and other international instruments to promote sustainable fisheries,” said Manuel Barange, the director of FAO’s fisheries and aquaculture division.

Currently, one in three fish stocks are overfished. With the rising demand for aquatic foods, ensuring that all stocks are managed sustainably is crucial.

The PSMA has the highest rate of adherence of all international fisheries instruments. It is the first binding international agreement designed to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing by stopping foreign vessels engaging in it, from using ports, landing their catches, even denying them entry. It is a key instrument to block fish products derived from IUU fishing from entering international markets.

So far 75 parties, including the European Union as one Party on behalf of its member states, have adhered to the PSMA. This represents 59 percent of port states globally. Timor-Leste became the latest party to the agreement at the end of last month.

FAO noted that the Global Information Exchange System (GIES) plays a critical role in supporting the implementation of the PSMA. It is a global system that shares vital information including inspection reports and actions taken on foreign fishing vessels engaged in IUU fishing.

“We need streamlined information exchange and digitalization for the PSMA to effectively combat IUU fishing,” said Matthew Camilleri, senior fishery officer and head of the Fisheries Global and Regional Processes Team in FAO’s fisheries and aquaculture division.

During this Fourth Meeting of the Parties, parties to the PSMA pledged further support to the Global Capacity Development Program, which has to date supported more than 50 developing states in improving their capacity to combat IUU fishing.

The PSMA entered into force in June 2016 and the Meeting of the Parties is convened biennially to discuss matters related to the implementation of the Agreement.

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Step up action against illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing.

“FAO is working with countries and regional fisheries management organizations to combat IUU fishing, by reviewing national legislation, identifying ways to strengthen their institutional capacity, and helping them enhance their monitoring and surveillance systems, so they can effectively implement the PSMA and other international instruments to promote sustainable fisheries,” said Manuel Barange, the director of FAO fisheries and aquaculture division.

The conclusion of the 4th Meeting of the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) were reported in various media. 

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Strengthen efforts to combat IUU fishing by extending vessel inspections, exchanging global information and improving the capacity of developing states.

Global push to step up action against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing

Parties to FAO global agreement endorse strategy for strengthened global commitment and information exchange.

Parties to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’  Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) have agreed to strengthen efforts to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing by extending vessel inspections, exchanging global information and improving the capacity of developing states.

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FAO’s International plan of action aims to eradicate IUU fishing Worldwide.

Parties pledged to expand ship inspections, share global information and improve developing countries’ ability to combat IUU fishing. To facilitate these efforts, Parties agreed to transition the Global Information Exchange System (GIES), a digital system developed by FAO, from its current pilot phase to a fully operational system by the end of the year.

BALI, INDONESIA – Parties to the Food and Agriculture Organization's Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) have agreed to strengthen measures

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Introduction to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and Sustainable Fisheries processes at the United Nations.

Introduction to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and Sustainable Fisheries processes at the United Nations

The 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) is an implementing agreement to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the S

The 1995 United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) is an implementing agreement to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that aims at ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks. It provides an international legally binding framework for the conservation and management of the world's most commercially significant high seas fish stocks, including through regional fisheries management organizations.

The seminar will serve to inform participants about the international legal framework for sustainable fisheries in UNCLOS and UNFSA, including the role of flag States, coastal States and regional fisheries management organizations.