Saving Seafood

Fishing by dodgy fleets hurts economies, jobs in developing countries: Report

April 30, 2024 — Companies implicated in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing can have a serious impact on the economies, job opportunities and overall welfare of the developing countries in whose waters they operate, according to a recent report from London-based global affairs think tank the ODI.

The report, released Feb. 16, used consolidated fisheries and satellite data to gauge the economic damage done by fishing fleets with shady track records in five vulnerable countries: Ecuador, Ghana, Peru, the Philippines, and Senegal. It found that these companies’ fishing activities could be costing the five countries 0.26% of their combined GDP, leaving 30,174 people jobless and pushing 142,192 individuals deeper into poverty than they otherwise would be.

“In this report, we wanted to make a business case for sustainable fishing to show that it is in developing countries’ economic interests to have robust sustainable fishing policies,” Miren Gutierrez, study author and a professor of communication at the University of Deusto in Spain, told Mongabay. “This is crucial because the health of the oceans and the sustainability of fish stocks are directly linked to the activities of real companies and the people behind them.”

Read the full article at Mongabay

EJF analysis of China’s distant-water fleet alleges connections to IUU, human rights issues

April 16, 2024 — The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has issued a report alleging China’s distant-water fishing fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) is connected to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and human rights abuses.

The report, “Tide of Injustice,” investigated China’s fleet in the region and interviewed migrant fishers onboard. According to the EJF, every single fisher the nonprofit interviewed reported witnessing either human rights abuses, illegal fishing, or both.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Bipartisan group of lawmakers push Biden to do more on IUU fishing

March 12, 2024 –A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives has sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden urging him and the administration to take increased action against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The letter, sent by House Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-California) and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Arizona), was signed by 26 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It calls for the Biden administration to use new authorities granted it by the National Defense Authorization Act. and the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Conservation groups ask White House to take over SIMP review

February 20, 2024 — A dozen conservation groups penned a letter to the White House asking for the Executive Office of the President to take over a review of the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) that was initiated by NOAA Fisheries late last year.

NOAA Fisheries terminated its plans for a limited expansion of SIMP – a government program designed to crack down on illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing – late last year in response to public input. NOAA’s expansion would have added new species to the program, which currently covers 13 species groups, but conservation groups heavily criticized the action for not being more ambitious and expanding the program to all imported seafood species.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Major seafood buyers support US proposal to address IUU fishing, human rights violations in South Pacific

February 1, 2024 — More than 30 major seafood companies, industry associations, and pre-competitive collaborations have signed onto a letter to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization calling for action on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and human rights during its ongoing annual meeting.

The SPRFMO is hosting its 12th annual meeting from 29 January to 2 February in Manta, Ecuador.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Major seafood buyers support US proposals to address IUU fishing and human rights violations in the South Pacific

January 26, 2024 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:

More than 30 major seafood companies, industry associations and pre-competitive coalitions expressed their support for addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and human rights violations to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO), which begins its annual meeting in Ecuador today.

“We wish to see the Commission accelerate the fight against the IUU fishing in the Convention area by implementing appropriate procedures and measures to identify infringements and violations by vessels on the high seas,” the companies wrote, in a letter submitted to the Heads of Delegation of Members and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CNCPs) to the SPRFMO.

The letter asks the State Members and CNCPs to take the following actions at the 12th Annual SPRFMO meeting, which takes place all week in Manta, Ecuador:

1.    Support the introduction of labor issues to the SPRFMO agenda, including the creation of a specialized working group and the establishment of the first Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) on guidelines for crew members’ safety and equitable treatment, as proposed by the US, Ecuador, Australia and New Zealand.

2.    Amend the jumbo flying squid CMM to progressively increase onboard observer coverage to 20%, as proposed by Australia and New Zealand.

3.    Fully discuss and consider the five proposals on increasing monitoring, control and surveillance to combat IUU fishing in the jumbo flying squid fishery.

The 17 State members of the SPRFMO Commission, including the US, China and EU, will meet from January 29 to February 2 to consider proposals to improve the jumbo flying squid Conservation and Management Measures. If adopted, these actions will improve transparency and controls to prevent IUU fishing in the world’s most important squid stock.

Will 2024 be a turning point for IUU fishing?

January 25, 2024 — Over the past few years, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has moved from obscurity to recognition as a global threat, a U.S. national security concern, and the topic of a New York Times best seller. Multiple international bodies have developed agreements to combat it. The president of the United States directed executive agencies to address it. Given all this awareness and activity, it would be reasonable to think that global efforts are having an impact in countering IUU fishing.

Measurable improvement on a global scale, however, remains elusive. The IUU Fishing Risk Index benchmarks countries based on their vulnerability to, the prevalence of, and their response to IUU fishing. The 2023 biannual index report showed a slightly worse overall score compared to 2021 but broadly presented no notable global shift or improvement.

At some point, U.S. and global efforts must turn the tide on illegal fishing. Could 2024 be that turning point?

Read the full article at Brookings

US federal agencies launch USD 1 million challenge for forecasting IUU fishing

January 22, 2024 — The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) – both of which operate under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Defense – have jointly launched the “Global Fishing Forecast Grand Challenge,” which will award USD 1 million (EUR 918,000) to entities or individuals who can develop effective strategies for forecasting global maritime vessel traffic involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“The objective of the NSIN/NGA Global Fishing Forecast Grand Challenge is to elucidate IUU fishing activities by transitioning the analytic paradigm from detection to anticipation, via the development of novel and effective forecasting capabilities,” NSIN said.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Possible loophole in WTO fishing subsidy talks leads to wariness among developing nations

December 31, 2023 — World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiators have struggled to conclude talks on ending harmful fishery subsidies, and as each day goes by, the 31 December deadline to agree on a draft text – set by Icelandic WTO Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson, who has been chairing the talks – looms larger.

The ongoing talks aim to build upon a deal the WTO reached in 2022, which prohibited subsidy support for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, by adding rules on subsidies that lead to overfishing and overcapacity in global fishing fleets.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Coast Guard opens IUU Fisheries Center covering Indo-Pacific, ups patrols off Peru

November 13, 2023 — The U.S. Coast Guard is taking more aggressive action to police the Pacific Ocean in an effort to curb illegal fishing conducted by China’s distant-water fleet.

The USCG has opened the Illegal Unreported Unregulated Fisheries Center of Expertise (IUUF COE) in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A., to serve as the center for U.S. efforts to combat illegal fishing activity in the Indo-Pacific region. It also created a specialized environmental response unit, the Marine Environmental Response Regional Activities Center (MER RAC), to advise partner nations in preventing and countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in their home waters. And it recently completed an operation to counter IUU fishing off the coast of Peru.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource