Saving Seafood

FiTI’s Sven Biermann sees transparency as solution to IUU problems

June 25, 2021 — The first country report on fisheries management transparency under the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) was published in April by the Seychelles, followed by Mauritania’s first report in May. Compiled to the FiTI Standard, the reports offer information on fishery access agreements, as well as other data clarifying the true state of fisheries in a particular country.

FiTI was established in 2017 with the mission of improving the sustainability of global fisheries by increasing transparency in government management of stocks. FiTI is funded by donors and subscriptions from member countries. FiTI Executive Director Sven Biermann spoke with SeafoodSource about the initiative and its progress.

SeafoodSource: Why is the publication of the FiTI country report on the Seychelles important?

Biermann: The first report provides a global model and shows that it can be done. Transparency is sometimes difficult to sell. So other countries that have doubts will see this leading example and hopefully follow. The report raises the profile of the fishery sector in the country. A lot of small-island developing states depend on tourism. The FiTI report shows the importance of fisheries, not just from an economic point of view, but also for employment, the role of women, food, and nutrition. Thus, it demonstrates the crucial importance of fisheries for well-being, and this is often not appreciated.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

IUU vessel-tracker shows possible widespread abuse of AIS switch-off capability

June 22, 2021 — A newly launched map of the locations of fishing vessels involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has one big problem: there’s not much to show.

The new tool, the IUU Vessel Tracker, was launched Wednesday, 16 June, by non-governmental organization Oceana. It uses Global Fishing Watch tracking data cross-indexed with a list of vessels linked to IUU compiled by regional fishery management organizations and Norway-based nonprofit Trygg Mat Tracking. But Oceana said the tool, which allows anyone in the world to track the activities of these vessels in near real-time, is currently tracking just two of 168 vessels on the list. The two vessels visible, the Phoenix and the Nadhodka, are flagged to the Seychelles and Russia, respectively.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US crackdown on forced labor opens seafood importers to heightened scrutiny

June 17, 2021 — The imposition by U.S. authorities of a ban on imports from a top Chinese fishing firm important raises due diligence issues for American seafood importers, according to a lawyer working on such cases.

On 28 May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection imposed a withhold release order on distant-water fishing firm Dalian Ocean Fishing, barring the company’s products from entering American ports. CBP cited the findings of a yearlong investigation that revealed forced labor in the company’s operations as the basis for its action.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Report claims one-fifth of caviar and meat sold in key markets illegal

June 15, 2021 — A survey by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has revealed that the trade of caviar and sturgeon-based products in four key European countries continues to be plagued by illegal trading, hindering the recovery of seven of eight species of sturgeon in Eastern Europe that are on the brink of extinction.

WWF conducted a market survey within the European Union-funded LIFE project and published a resulting paper, “Sustainable Protection of Lower Danube Sturgeons by Preventing and Counteracting Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade,” laying out its findings. The research covered Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine – countries where sturgeon breed in the Lower Danube River and the northwestern Black Sea region. The Danube, along with the Rioni River in Georgia’s Caucasus, is one of two remaining rivers where migrating sturgeons reproduce naturally.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Australia’s “Operation Jawline” intercepts 19 Indonesian vessels suspected of IUU

June 11, 2021 — Australian maritime operatives intercepted 19 Indonesian vessels in a two-week period in May through “Operation Jawline,” an operation coordinated by the Maritime Border Command (MBC) – a joint agency task force within the Australian Border Force (ABF) – with close involvement from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).

The vessels were all believed to be illegally fishing in Australia’s Northern waters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US blocks seafood from Chinese fleet over crew mistreatment

June 10, 2021 — The U.S. government blocked imports of seafood Friday from the entire fleet of a Chinese company that authorities say forced crew members to work in slave-like conditions that led to the deaths of several Indonesian fishermen last year.

Customs and Border Protection said it will place an immediate hold on any imports linked to the more than 30 vessels operated by Dalian Ocean Fishing, under a U.S. law that bars goods suspected to have been produced with forced labor.

Imports from Dalian, which primarily fishes for high-grade tuna, have exceeded $20 million as recently as 2018. Amid financial troubles, and a greater focus on the Asian market, the shipments have dropped. CBP said the company shipped $1.8 million worth of cargo to the U.S. in 2019; nearly $321,000 in 2020; and $763,000 through April 30 of this year.

“We will not tolerate any amount derived from forced labor,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters as he announced the measure.

CBP issued what is known as a withhold release order that halts shipments that have suspected links to forced labor, under a law that has been on the books for decades, ostensibly to protect U.S. producers from unfair competition.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Boston Herald

NOAA Enforcement Continues the Fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

June 8, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

This past weekend marked the fourth observance of the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing. This day was declared by the United Nations to raise awareness about IUU fishing and its threat to the sustainability of the world’s ocean resources. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement plays a pivotal role in tackling IUU fishing every day.

Combating IUU fishing is a top priority for the United States. IUU fishing damages economies, threatens marine resources, and harms U.S. fishing fleets and consumers. Through partnerships and collaborative efforts, we address IUU fishing by:

  • Conducting investigations targeting IUU fishing activities
  • Enforcing domestic laws and international treaties to ensure that fisheries resources are conserved and protected
  • Facilitating government-to-government exchanges to provide capacity, technical assistance, and training workshops that strengthen fisheries enforcement aimed at restricting IUU fishing activities

Training Inspectors, Increasing Compliance

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement has helped countries enhance their fisheries enforcement capacities to combat IUU fishing for more than a decade.

Illegal fishers count on poor communication among relevant authorities and seek to take advantage of gaps in interagency coordination. They rely on global enforcement entities to not share information with one another—allowing them to continue to carry out their lucrative behavior.

To address this problem, the Port State Measures Agreement was created. It is the first binding international agreement specifically designed to target IUU fishing and is an important tool for us. Currently, there are 69 parties to the Agreement, covering 93 countries and more than half of the world’s coastal nations.

The Agreement works to prevent vessels carrying IUU fish and fish products from landing their catch at ports around the world. It sets minimum standards for:

  • Screening foreign-flagged fishing and fishing support vessels prior to entering port
  • Conducting dockside inspections of foreign-flagged fishing and fishing support vessels
  • Training of inspectors and the reporting of inspections

We have developed domestic and international Port State Measures Inspector Training Programs that provide technical assistance to global partners. These trainings—the first of their kind—help reduce the amount of IUU fish and fish products being landed and exported from nations around the world. They focus on the operational implementation of the Agreement to help global partners better detect and intercept IUU fish and fish products before they enter global commerce.

Building partnerships to combat IUU fishing is a top priority. It is critically important to the success of the Agreement that all parties have the support and tools needed to implement its provisions. We continue to help partners with legislative framework and policy support, in addition to fisheries inspector and officer training. These trainings enhance partners’ monitoring, control, and surveillance systems to combat IUU fishing and the trade in IUU fish products. They also help implement the operational requirements of the Agreement and promote increased cooperation and information sharing between interagency partners.

Training and Technical Assistance Highlights

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement supports partners across the Asia-Pacific region and is expanding into Latin America and the Caribbean. This expansion follows the recent successes of our Inspector Training in Lima, Peru in January 2020, which brought together participants from Ecuador and Peru.

In Southeast Asia, we conducted our first Inspector Training-of-Trainers Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia in fall 2019. We also co-facilitated a regional Port State Measures Inspector Training workshop for the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center with support from the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia. In total, nine SEAFDEC members participated—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—as well as India and Sri Lanka. In addition, we provided technical support to Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

We conducted joint monitoring, control, and surveillance assessments in The Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, in 2019 and 2020. These assessments were supported through a project with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. We have since held multiple follow-up technical exchanges.

Lastly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have worked hard to pivot capacity-building efforts to a virtual landscape. In the near future, we will launch the first virtual edition of the Training Program. Through this innovative programming, we continue the fight against IUU fishing at home and abroad.

U.S. Interagency Working Group Marks International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

June 7, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Every day, the United States works with our partners across the world to confront illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. IUU fishing activities hurt law-abiding U.S. fishermen and their consumers, damage economies of developing coastal nations, and threaten marine resources. The global economic impact resulting from these activities is in the billions, or even tens of billions, of dollars each year. Furthermore, IUU fishing is sometimes linked to criminal activity, such as human trafficking, including forced labor, drug trafficking, smuggling, and other forms of transnational crime. Wherever it occurs, IUU fishing undermines global maritime rules-based order, which has been essential to global prosperity and development for the last 70 years.

June 5 marks the annual United Nations International Day for the Fight Against IUU Fishing. This day raises awareness of the impact of IUU fishing as one of the greatest threats to the sustainability of the world’s ocean resources. IUU fishing refers not only to illegal fishing activities, but also the often overlooked, but equally important U’s in IUU fishing activities. Unreported and unregulated fishing refers to fishing activities that are not reported, insufficiently regulated, or are misreported to relevant authorities. This hinders the ability for scientists to fully assess the health of fish stocks and endangers our food security.

Tackling all these issues requires particular, concerted action by different agencies and different operational and legal frameworks. It also includes a large net of coordination among regional fisheries management organizations, foreign governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Department of State recently began implementing a law which advances a “whole-of-government” strategy to fight IUU fishing.

The Maritime Security and Fisheries Enforcement Act (SAFE) Act was passed in December 2019. It directed twenty-one federal agencies to establish a central forum to coordinate and strengthen their efforts—the U.S. Interagency Working Group on IUU Fishing. This Working Group set up mechanisms for agencies to:

  • Regularly share information and coordinate efforts
  • Strengthen maritime enforcement
  • Advance public-private partnerships
  • Provide technical assistance on IUU fishing

During its first year, member agencies developed an initial set of priorities and activities that included creating specific sub-working groups to collaborate on issues such as maritime intelligence, public-private partnerships, and human trafficking. The Working Group continues to conduct a series of outreach engagements with industry and the private sector. Moving forward, the Working Group will engage with various public and private stakeholders on building coordinated approaches in the priority regions where the Working Group has determined that IUU fishing issues are prevalent.

Combating IUU fishing is a top priority for the United States, and communication, collaboration and strategic coordination will be key in bringing about tangible results. The efforts of the Interagency Working Group now sit at the heart of our government’s coordination on tackling IUU fishing practices and setting the conditions where IUU fishing is neither accepted nor commonplace in the future. We are committed to continue working together on best practices and sharing results across agencies and partnerships to encourage their further adaptation and replication.

Read the full release here

Oceana reports Chinese, Spanish squid vessels ‘going dark’ off Argentina

June 4, 2021 — A South Atlantic shortfin squid fishery is dominated by distant-water fleets off Argentina, primarily Chinese vessels that account for an estimated 69 percent of fishing activity, according to a new report by the environmental group Oceana.

From Jan. 1, 2018 to April 25, 2021, the group documented more than 800 foreign-flag vessels logging more than 900,000 hours of apparent fishing activity, based on analysis of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data.

That analysis also showed vessels regularly “went dark” – apparently turning off their AIS transponders – effectively dropping out of sight for 600,000 hours in all. Some 66 percent of those outages involved Chinese vessels, raising the possibility of masked illegal fishing, such as intruding into Argentina’s exclusive economic zone, according to Oceana researchers.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act unveiled by Graves

June 4, 2021 — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) on May 11 introduced a bipartisan bill to end foreign Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing, which he says is negatively impacting America’s fisheries, particularly in his home state of Louisiana. 

“Generations of Louisiana’s fishing families have made our state one of the top seafood producers in the country. The combination of great chefs and our seafood has resulted in Louisiana being a foodie destination,” Rep. Graves said. “However, hurricanes, government regulations, the pandemic and unfair competition from foreign fishing fleets are threatening the future of these hard-working men and women and threatening the sustainability of fisheries around the globe. 

“It has evolved from an environmental issue to an economic issue to a national security issue,” he said. 

The Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, H.R. 3075, which Rep. Graves introduced with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), would establish monitoring and detection programs to identify and prevent IUU fisheries from unfair competition with United States domestic fishing boats, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Graves’ office.

Read the full story at The Ripon Advance