Saving Seafood

Biden’s IUU memo leaves some advocates wanting more

June 28, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday, 27 June, 2022, issued a broad memorandum calling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing a threat to American economic competitiveness and national security, the global fishing industry, and to the fight against climate change.

The announcement, though, left some advocates wanting more from the administration, particularly in terms of policies that still allow some fish harvested and processed by IUU means to enter U.S. ports. Biden’s proclamation coincided with the first day of the United Nations Ocean Conference, which runs through Friday, 1 July, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Biden aims at China in new illegal fishing policy framework

June 27, 2022 — The Biden administration is stepping up efforts to combat illegal fishing by China, ordering federal agencies to better coordinate among themselves as well as with foreign partners in a bid to promote sustainable exploitation of the world’s oceans.

On Monday, the White House released its first ever National Security memo on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, or IUU, to coincide with the start of a United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal.

Nearly 11% of total U.S. seafood imports in 2019 worth $2.4 billion came from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, a federal agency.

While China isn’t named in the lengthy policy framework, language in it left little doubt where it was aimed. The memo is bound to irritate Beijing at a time of growing geopolitical competition between the two countries. China is a dominant seafood processor and through state loans and fuel subsidies has built the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, with thousands of floating fish factories spread across Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Specifically, the memo directs 21 federal departments and agencies to better share information, coordinate enforcement actions such as sanctions and visa restrictions and promote best practices among international allies.

Read the full story at The Washington Post 

NOAA proposes new steps to combat illegal fishing, counter forced labor in seafood supply chain

June 27, 2022 — The following was released by NOAA:

Today, NOAA proposed new measures to strengthen its ability to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities and counter forced labor in the seafood supply chain. As a global leader in combating IUU fishing, NOAA employs a suite of tools to deter these activities where they may occur. The proposed changes are part of a rulemaking process that is open for public comment.

NOAA’s proposal broadens the scope of activities that can be considered under the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act when identifying nations for IUU fishing, including pervasive and persistent fishing activities in waters under the jurisdiction of a nation, without authorization or in violation of that nation’s laws. In addition, fishing activities in waters beyond any national jurisdiction that involve the use of forced labor may be considered by NOAA in identifying nations for IUU fishing under the Act.

“IUU fishing undermines sustainable fisheries and healthy ocean ecosystems, threatens economic security and natural resources critical to global food security, and puts law-abiding fishers and seafood producers in the U.S. and abroad at a disadvantage,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, acting assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy NOAA administrator. “NOAA is committed to strengthening the suite of tools we use to combat all forms of IUU fishing and counter the use of forced labor in the seafood supply chain.”

Working with interagency partners, NOAA also seeks to expand the information foreign fishing vessels must submit when requesting entry into U.S. ports in order to fully implement the Port State Measures Agreement. The proposed rule enables a risk assessment of incoming vessels to determine if they have engaged in IUU fishing activities as defined under the Agreement, and to decide whether to deny a vessel entry to port.

“The efforts to combat IUU fishing activities and counter forced labor are complex and a broad range of governments and management organizations are involved,” said Kelly Kryc, deputy assistant secretary for International Fisheries, NOAA. “As a major consumer, producer, and importer of seafood, the U.S. takes many steps to combat IUU fishing as a flag state, port state, market state, and in partnership with other agencies and countries around the world.”

NOAA co-leads the U.S. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing under the Maritime SAFE Act, which supports a whole-of-government approach utilizing a range of regulatory and technological tools, to counter IUU fishing and related threats to maritime security, enabling federal agencies to focus their efforts and leverage interagency coordination to maximize impact.

IUU fishing encompasses a wide variety of fishing-related activities, occurring at points along the global seafood supply chain, which may violate both national laws or responsibilities under international instruments. Learn more about NOAA’s ongoing and robust efforts to combat IUU fishing and counter forced labor.

WTO deal on fishing subsidies received with mixture of praise and criticism

June 21, 2022 — Representatives of ocean-focused non-governmental organizations have issued a mix of praise and criticism of an agreement struck at the World Trade Organization to prohibit subsidy support for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and limiting fishing of overfished stocks.

The accord, agreed to on 14 June, ditched several parts of the draft text presented to ministers and was characterized by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as a “first but significant step forward” to curbing fleet overcapacity by ending subsidies for fishing on the unregulated high seas. Okonjo-Iweala said the reporting requirements included in the deal will “finally shed light on the actual level of subsidies going to fishing.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Indonesia issues long-delayed rules to protect migrant fishing workers

June 14, 2022 — Indonesia has issued a much-anticipated decree to boost the protection of Indonesian deckhands working aboard foreign commercial and fishing vessels.

The move comes in response to a pending lawsuit accusing the government of failing to enshrine protections that could have prevented a long history of abusive and even deadly treatment of these sailors.

The government says the regulation ratified on June 8 by the administration of President Joko Widodo is designed to streamline the recruitment and placement process of Indonesian migrant deckhands, and improve measures to protect their labor rights. The government decree, a derivative of the country’s 2017 law on migrant worker protection, is applicable to foreign commercial and fishing vessels, including distant-water boats.

A key change introduced in the new regulation includes having the Ministry of Manpower as the official authority to produce the permit for recruitment agencies to assign candidate migrant workers. Previously, the Ministry of Transportation could also issue a similar permit. Many observers have called out the overlapping authorities for undermining legal protections for the migrant deckhands.

Read the full story at Mongabay

How Well is the Global Treaty to Ban Illegal Fishing Vessels Working?

June 6, 2022 — One of the biggest challenges facing the global ocean is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Operating outside the constraints of laws, quotas and licences, IUU vessels commonly overfish, trawl in protected waters and take protected species.

IUU deprives countries of an estimated $26–50 billion annually. It depletes fish stocks and damages biodiversity, while threatening livelihoods and food security. It often takes place in developing coastal states that lack the governance and resources to monitor and protect their fish stocks effectively. More widely, IUU is linked to labor abuses, human trafficking and slavery.

To respond to these threats, in 2016 the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) brought into force the first legally binding international agreement to tackle IUU fishing. So how does the Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) work, and what has it accomplished so far?

What is the PSMA?

The vast majority of wild-caught marine fish are landed in ports. The PSMA enables nations that are party to it – of which there are currently 70 – to use ports as a form of border control for foreign-flagged vessels. The treaty applies not only to fishing vessels, but also those that transfer catch and refuel at sea. Guided by the PSMA, port officials assess the risk that an incoming vessel may be engaged in illegal activities, and decide whether to let it dock.

By tightening port controls, in principle the PSMA shuts out vessels that profit from IUU activities, and slows the flow of illegal fish into global markets. Enforcing at ports is also safer and more economical than patrolling the high seas looking for vessels fishing illegally. The idea is that as more nations adopt the treaty and turn away vessels engaged in IUU, they will be forced to travel further and at greater expense to land their catch, until it’s no longer profitable, and they are deterred.

Read the full story at Maritime Executive

Huffman, Graves want Biden to make “strong statement” against IUU

June 6, 2022 — Two U.S. lawmakers pushing the federal government to take broader action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are asking U.S. President Joe Biden to take action ahead of a key international conference.

U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) sent the letter on 2 June 2022, saying the country has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the fight against IUU ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which starts on 27 June. The conference – as well as June being World Oceans Month – presents an opportunity for the U.S. to make a “strong statement,” they said in the three-page letter.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Joint Analytical Cell opens new front in fight against IUU fishing

June 1, 2022 — A new collaboration by three data-driven campaign groups aims to give lower-income coastal states better access to fisheries intelligence, data analysis, and capacity-building assistance in the battle against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The collaboration was founded by the USAID-funded International Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Network; Global Fishing Watch; a partnership between Google and the advocacy groups Oceana and SkyTruth; and TMT, a nonprofit known for its detailed database of IUU-related vessels and operators. Dubbed the Joint Analytical Cell (JAC), the project aims to harness innovative technology and fisheries expertise to increase data sharing and collaboration among governments and non-state actors in the fight against IUU.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Coast Guard Searches for Poachers From Mexico Stealing Fish From U.S.

May 24, 2022 — At Hooked on Seafood, red snapper fetches a premium price. For fishermen, the tasty fruit of the Gulf of Mexico is like striking gold.

“Red snapper is the hottest commodity in the U.S., here in this border,” Hooked on Seafood owner Chris Johnson said.

But its high demand attracts schools of poachers from across the border.

“They’re taking our money out of our waters and selling it right back to us, and we’re paying to do it every day,” Johnson continued.

He’s a fishmonger and fisherman on Texas’ South Padre Island. He bellows a decades-long lament — illegal fishing operations from Mexico zip through the boundary waters poaching red snapper, shark, and shrimp by the thousands.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Vessel flag loopholes leaving door open for IUU fishing in Africa

May 9, 2022 — The number of fishing vessels exploiting African flags to escape effective oversight as they engage in illegal fishing continues to increase, a new report by TM-Tracking has found.

The report, published by Norwegian nonprofit TM-Tracking and a collection of experts under I.R. Consilium, found that the health of Africa’s fisheries, coupled with the limited enforcement capacity of the region’s governments, make Africa an “ideal venue for high-risk fishing operators.” An analysis of fishing operations and illegal fishing cases by TM-Tracking found perpetrators of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing are tapping into the USD 194 billion (EUR 184 billion) global fishing market without any “meaningful restrictions or management oversight.”

Read the full story at SeafoodSource