Seafood is the primary source of animal protein for one billion people globally. Fish consumption is increasing and this trend is anticipated to continue. In addition to being an important food source for many people, including those in developing countries, millions of jobs around the world depend on fisheries and aquaculture. Seafood is the largest traded food commodity in the world, and is an integral component for the livelihoods and traditions of many, including indigenous populations.

Pollution and ecosystem degradation, together with overfishing, put fish populations under stress, threatening their sustainability, the health of marine ecosystems, and global food security. Added to this, the industry is plagued by illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which undermines conservation efforts, fisheries management measures, and the livelihoods of legitimate fishers that comply with such measures.

IUU fishing is recognised as a major threat globally; last October, the Our Ocean conference was held in Malta to explore commitments to address the impacts on traditional fishing and fishery-dependent communities, and combating IUU fishing was highlighted as a key priority for safeguarding sustainable fisheries.

While the nature of IUU fishing makes its magnitude difficult to calculate, the most reliable estimates indicated that IUU fishing represents up to €19 billion annually (up to 15 per cent of the global catch).

Rules and regulations do exist, but it is key that they are effectively enforced and implemented across national borders with cooperation at the regional and global levels. In the absence of this enforcement, there will always be those who continue to take advantage of the lack of regulation and monitoring, to the detriment of those legitimate fishers who depend on marine fisheries for their livelihoods.

“The promotion, regulation, and monitoring of responsible fishing practices, through robust fisheries management and governance frameworks, are essential for the sustainability of fisheries resources in both coastal areas and in the high seas,” says Matthew Camilleri, senior fishery officer at the Fishing Operations and Technology branch of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

“The principles of responsible fisheries management have been prescribed in a number of international ocean and fisheries instruments, and have been supported and strengthened by regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) around the globe,” continues Dr Camilleri.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing undermines conservation efforts, fisheries management measures, and the livelihoods of legitimate fishers

There have been several important achievements in the fight against IUU fishing, including the development and adoption of international guidelines to improve flag states’ compliance with their duties to promote better traceability of fishery products in the value chain through the use of catch documentation schemes, and the development of fishing vessel records at regional and global levels. At the national level, there have been encouraging signs of reform in some countries’ industrial scale fisheries, but the problem remains widespread.

Unfortunately, states do not always satisfactorily fulfil their duties in line with such instruments and regional mechanisms, often due to a lack of capacity, and this creates opportunities for IUU fishing to take place, undermining national, regional and global efforts to manage fisheries sustainably.

‘The principles of responsible fisheries management have been prescribed in a number of international ocean and fisheries instruments’ – FAO’s Dr Matthew Camilleri.

The need to improve flag State performance and implement port State measures, supported by the use of monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms and tools, has featured prominently in international and regional fisheries fora.

“While innovations in technology have enabled states to better monitor their fishing fleets, it is not enough for states to simply detect IUU fishing,” explains Dr Camilleri.

“They must strengthen fisheries laws and regulations, be able to take effective action against perpetrators to deter non-compliance, establish mechanisms that encourage compliance, and ensure that subsidies, or any other benefits that states may grant to their fishing sectors, do not nurture IUU fishing,” he adds.

Dr Camilleri went on to explain that “considering that fishing vessels are highly dependent on the use of ports, including the ports of states other than their own, support for the implementation of port State measures in combating IUU fishing increased remarkably over the years, leading to the adoption of the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA), which came into force in June 2016”.

To assist developing states in implementing the PSMA and complementary instruments, mechanisms and tools, FAO is delivering a global capa­city development programme, under Dr Camilleri’s leadership.

As a major importer of fish, the EU’s regulations constitute a strong suite of measures to stop fish derived from IUU fishing from entering their market. Their yellow and red card system has proved effective in encouraging countries to make reforms and to demonstrate their own commitment to combatting IUU fishing through the implementation of sound fisheries management measures.

The recent adoption of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes will further facilitate states in ensuring a more harmonised system to guide policies that are aimed at preventing those engaged in IUU fishing from accessing their markets and further enabling legitimate operators to benefit from access to those with effective market measures.

IUU fishing is a problem that can be solved through leadership, action and international cooperation.

FAO agreement on port state measures

The Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) provides a specific framework to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. It does this through: setting conditions for the entry and use of ports by foreign fishing vessels and defining minimum international standards to be applied by port states in reviewing information prior to the vessels’ entry into port; ensuring the conduct of inspections in their designated ports; and taking measures against vessels found to have engaged in IUU fishing.

The global implementation of the PSMA would effectively establish compliance checkpoints in all corners of the world for a large number of fishing vessels, especially those that operate in waters outside the jurisdiction of the flag state and seek entry into the ports of other states.

Moreover, the PSMA provides an opportunity for states to collaborate and exchange information on fishing vessels and their activities. This collaboration can take place through and with RFMOs, thereby creating a network that supports port states in combating IUU fishing, flag States in controlling their vessels, coastal states in protecting their fishery resources, and market states in ensuring that fishery products derived from IUU fishing do not enter their markets.

The inspection and compliance records of fishing vessels, compiled through the information exchange mechanism under the agreement, could be used as a reliable source for states to undertake risk assessments and, in cases of lack of compliance with national, regional or international laws and regulations, to take appropriate action, including the prohibition or freezing of subsidies by the flag states concerned.