March 20, 2020 — Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has profound effects on the economies and pocketbooks of developing countries, removing billions of dollars worth of fish every year from the legal trading system.
Between 8 and 14 million metric tons of fish are caught illegally every year, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia (UBC). Those fish are worth an estimated USD 9 billion to USD 17 billion (EUR 8 billion to EUR 15 billion).
March 13, 2020 — A new report released in March by the United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO) has found improvements in working conditions in Thailand’s fishing and seafood processing sectors. However, there remain problems with forced labor in the industry, the organization noted.
Despite the finding, a group of human rights-focused NGOs are calling on the U.S. government to downgrade Thailand in its annual report on human trafficking, according to Reuters.
March 10, 2020 — The House passed the Senate version of a bill (SB 680), which outlaws the import and export of fins to or from Florida.
However, one amendment was added, meaning the Senate will have to vote anew on the reconfigured bill.
Rep. Kristin Jacobs, in what may be some of her final remarks on the House floor, noted that a lot of traffic has moved through Miami due to that and other illicit trades.
“There’s no end to finding a black market for all kinds of things,” Jacobs noted, adding that shark carcasses have been used to traffic cocaine.
Shark finning is the process of catching a shark, removing its fins and discarding the shark. Shark finners usually drop the body back into the ocean, where it bleeds to death or drowns because it can no longer swim properly. The fins fetch a hefty price on the black market where they are most often sold to Asian countries.
March 10, 2020 — A report issued Tuesday by the U.N.’s International Labor Organization credits Thailand with improving working conditions in the fishing and seafood processing industry, but says that serious abuses including forced labor remain.
The report is a follow-up to one published in 2018, and compares the workers situations from earlier surveys to one conducted last year.
Thailand’s seafood sector accounts for billions of dollars in export earnings annually and employ more than 350,000 workers.
However, the industry began facing the threat of trade sanctions from Western nations after media exposure in 2014 of poor working conditions and especially the exploitation of ‘fishing slaves’ — forced labor.
In response, Thailand’s government began instituting reform measures, most effectively by strengthening its legal, policy and regulatory framework, the report says.
But the measures have failed to substantially cut the use of forced labor, it says. Extrapolating from the 2019 survey of workers, it estimates that 14% of those engaged in fishing and 7% of those in seafood processing were subject to some form of forced labor.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New York Times
March 6, 2020 — US importers of Mexican shrimp and other seafood should soon be prepared to present documentation certifying that any of the products they are bringing over the border do not match a list of roughly five species caught in the upper Gulf of California using multiple gear types.
The US’ National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced Wednesday that it will ban the import of virtually all Mexican shrimp and other fish caught in that region of the country over concerns about the endangered vaquita porpoise. An effective date has not yet been set, but it is expected to be within a month and require importers to maintain a “certification of admissibility” that is signed by a Mexican government official establishing that the products being shipped are not from the upper Gulf of California’s:
March 4, 2020 — Florida freshwater turtles are being illegally caught and exported live in increasingly large numbers to keep up with demand for their meat, their supposed medicinal purposes and their value as pets, state wildlife officials said this month.
The black market trade is putting a strain on the state’s already vulnerable fresh water and terrestrial turtle populations, and officials say they expect demand to grow along with the dollar amount poachers in Florida can fetch.
Depending on the species, harvesters can make anywhere from $300 to more than $16,000 for a single turtle, officials say.
The appetite for freshwater turtles in Asian countries like China, Indonesia and India is already measured in tons per day, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and it has reached the point where it is unsustainable. While China has large farms raising turtles, the demand for wild caught adult turtles in the country is exploding.
Turtles live a long time, some species from 80 to more than 100 years, and they reach sexual maturity later in life than many other animals. This combination makes their populations particularly at risk to not only poaching, but to development, traffic and predatory animals, as well as sea level rise and climate change.
Read the full story from the Miami Herald at the Baltimore Sun
March 3, 2020 — As campaigns against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing continue in Africa, at least eight countries have resolved to develop a common strategy to counter the practice.
The eight countries, all members of the Southern Africa Development Community – an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana – are drawing up a plan of action on monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) methods. Those methods are planned for both the marine and inland water fisheries in the country, with the intention of countering illicit activities such as illegal fish landings, transshipment at sea, violations of catch limits, and deployment of illegal equipment.
March 2, 2020 — Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Chair Taotasi Archie Soliai and Executive Director Kitty M. Simonds laud the US Coast Guard’s recent success in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Western Pacific Region.
On Monday, the Maritime Executive reported that for the first time since 2012, the Coast Guard’s Honolulu-based 14th District intercepted foreign vessels illegally operating within the U.S. exclusive economic zone waters off Guam and Hawai’i.
February 28, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Taotasi Archie Soliai and Kitty M. Simonds, chair and executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, laud the US Coast Guard’s recent success in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Western Pacific Region.
On Monday, the Maritime Executive reported that for the first time since 2012, the Coast Guard’s Honolulu-based 14th District intercepted foreign vessels illegally operating within the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters off Guam and Hawai’i.
“While regulation compliance among US fishers is near 97 percent, some of the lowest policed areas, such as the waters in the Western and Central Pacific, are responsible for the highest percentage of significant violations,” said Lt. Jason Holstead. He reported that the Coast Guard has addressed foreign incursions in the EEZs of partner countries and IUU fishing on the high seas but not in the US EEZ in the past eight years.
The interdiction of the foreign vessels in the US EEZ came on the heels of last week’s 2020 State of the United States Coast Guard address delivered by Admiral Karl Schultz. “China, with the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, is one of the worst predatory fishing offenders, engaging in what we call illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing–or IUU,” Schultz said. “This is far more than just about conservation and sustainability, this is a national security challenge warranting a clear response.”
Schultz noted that many Pacific Island Countries, “and even American island territories, lack the capability and capacity to fully police their sovereign waters …”
“To enhance maritime domain awareness across the Pacific Ocean, we are fostering a partnership with Global Fishing Watch,” Schultz said. Additionally, the Coast Guard is “on track to take delivery of the first two 154-foot Fast Response Cutters to be home-ported in Guam” by the end of the year, Schultz added. They will replace 40-year-old vessels and strengthen the Coast Guard’s capabilities in the region.
“We have advised the government over the years that China is an aggressive player in Oceania in search of natural gas, minerals, fish and other raw materials,” said Simonds. “This aggressiveness is in part demonstrated by its heavy subsidizing of its fishing fleets.” According to Marine Policy (vol. 68), in 2013 the Chinese central government spent $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies. In recent years, China’s South Pacific albacore catch has increased to 40 to 50 percent of the total catch for all countries, while the catch by American Samoa has decreased to 2 percent of the total catch, which has jeopardized the local albacore longline fleet. In response, the Council recommended allowing the local fleet access to waters from 12 to 50 nautical miles of shore in the US EEZ around American Samoa. “It is good to see that our government has begun to recognize the threat to our nation’s fisheries in the Western Pacific,” Simonds said.
Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association, noted that China’s presence is in the Eastern Pacific as well. It recently received a quota for 6,000 metric tons (mt) of longline-caught bigeye tuna transferred from Japan. Korea also received a 2,000-mt quota transfer from Japan. “One third of Hawai’i effort is in Eastern Pacific,” Martin said, noting that 8,000 mt is equivalent to the total annual bigeye tuna catch of the Hawai’i longline fleet in both the Western and Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific combined.
The issue of international tuna management and enforcement is on the agenda for the Council’s 181st meeting, which convene March 10-12 in Honolulu. Prior to this meeting, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will meet next week to review the scientific aspects of the topics on the Council’s agenda. For more information on these meetings, go to http://www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars/ or contact the Council at (808) 522-8220 or by email at info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov.
February 27, 2020 — Several boats once owned by disgraced fishing mogul Carlos Rafael, infamous in the region for being nicknamed the “Codfather,” will once again set sail, thanks to new management.
Blue Harvest Fisheries has bought several of the boats that became disused due to Rafael’s conviction for ignoring fishing quotas and limits, as well as smuggling profits overseas. Rafael was sentenced to four years in prison and can never run a fishing operation ever again.
The company says its acquisition will help keep locals employed on the New Bedford waterfront and maintain the tradition that made it the Whaling City for generations of fishermen.
“Our goal here is to create jobs and opportunities for New England fisheries,” Blue Harvest CEO Keith Decker said. “Everyone, in general, is very excited about what this means to the greater New Bedford area.”