May 26, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new considerations with regards to social distancing and travel restrictions, and these have had a significant impact on the monitoring, control, and surveillance of fisheries activities.
This is a particular worry for developing countries that are vulnerable to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and there’s evidence that these conditions – with fewer active inspectors and observers – are being exploited by unscrupulous operators, according to the U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, Ambassador Peter Thomson.