IUU Fishing and Measures to Improve Enforcement and Compliance

Abstract

The term ‘illegal, unreported and unregulated (iuu) fishing’ was first used in 1997 in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (ccamlr) to capture the scope of uncontrolled fishing in the Southern Ocean and the urgency for addressing it. Members agreed that the situation called for collective efforts within ccamlr, measures by flag states and coastal states and steps vis-à-vis non-Contracting Parties to enhance enforcement and compliance with conservation and management measures (cmms). It ignited the determination of the international community to come to grips with iuu fishing, which spans activities under international, regional, and national governance. It involves practices such as unlicensed fishing, using forged licenses, illegal transshipment at sea, displaying fake names or call signs on a vessel, fishing in prohibited areas/with prohibited gear, use of flags or ports of non-compliance with little or no effective controls, and failure to comply with reporting or other information requirements. Even worse, some iuu fishers are known to kidnap people to work as crew, then murder them or throw them overboard. Many are involved in transnational crimes including smuggling drugs, people, and arms. They engage in bribery and blackmail of government officials, document fraud, and money laundering. Fraud throughout the food supply chain is reflected by practices such as mislabeling. In 2009, the total value of iuu fishing worldwide was reported to be between US$10 billion and US$23 billion annually, representing between 11.06 million and 25.91 million tonnes of fish.1 By 2014, members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao) recognized that the magnitude and characteristics of iuu fishing were likely to have changed significantly since