October 16, 2015 — Fish pirates are coming under fire as more countries band together to stop them from pilfering the world’s oceans.

So called Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for a fifth of the global catch, according to the Global Ocean Commission, valued up to $25 billion a year.

Last month, at an Intergovernmental Consultative Committee meeting in Portland, Oregon, the U.S. and Russia signed a bilateral agreement to combat IUU fishing by coordinating multiple government agencies. The pact, years in the making, has strong support from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska regions as well as environmental groups.

That will mean a big break for Bering Sea king crab, a fishery being whacked by the pirates.

For decades, Alaska crabbers have competed against king crab illegally caught by Russian fleets. Direct losses are estimated at $600 million since 2000, according to an analysis by the Juneau-based McDowell Group. Pirated king crab totaled nearly 100 million pounds in 2013, or 40 percent of the world market.

Mark Gleason, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, was thrilled with the U.S.-Russia agreement.

“The fact that there has been a formal acknowledgement between the U.S. and Russia that illegal fishing is a problem, and it is an issue that is worthy of cooperation between our two countries — it is unprecedented and a very welcome change,” Gleason said.

“If we’ve lost $600 million because of decreased ex-vessel prices, then obviously the fishing-dependent communities have also lost millions in taxes and landing revenues. So it’s not just an issue that impacts crab harvesters. It hurts communities, the State of Alaska and frankly, it impacts the legal Russian producers because we all are competing in the same markets. There’s a lot of pain to go around.”

Read the full story at Alaska Dispatch News