Promoting Cooperation of Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance of IUU Fishing in the Asia-Pacific

Yumi Okochi,Hajime Kawamura,Iwao Fujii

doi:10.3390/su131810231

Abstract

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is becoming a growing threat to sustainable fisheries and the economy worldwide. To solve this issue, various efforts on monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) have been made at the national, regional, and international levels. However, there is still the lack of measures against IUU fishing vessels at the multilateral level. Here, we assessed the situations of fisheries, and the current systems and challenges of MCS in eight Asia-Pacific countries with a focus on MCS of IUU fishing vessels at sea. Through a literature review and interviews, we confirmed that IUU fishing was linked with the status of fisheries in each country, and that each country implements various MCS measures with different emphases. However, there was a trend of enhancing or newly establishing four areas of MCS: vessel tracking, patrol, onboard observers, and port State measures, with amended or newly adopted laws. We also identified challenges of MCS such as insufficient MCS in coastal areas and fragmented cooperation among the countries. Based on our findings, we advance several recommendations including the enhancement of cooperation among stakeholders, especially fishers, for co-monitoring in coastal areas and the establishment of a communication platform for Asia-Pacific countries.

Highlights

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens sustainable fisheries, and the economy dependent upon them
There were three types of conditions where either: (1) domestic vessels or (2) foreign vessels are a major cause of IUU fishing; or (3) both foreign and domestic IUU fishing vessels are significant issues
Taiwan falls under the first condition, whereas the two Pacific countries (Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia) are categorized under the second condition

Summary

Introduction

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens sustainable fisheries, and the economy dependent upon them. One estimate shows that the global catch derived from illegal and unregulated fishing can range from 11,000,000 to 26,000,000 t annually [1]. As the current annual catch of marine capture fisheries is 96,400,000 t (as of 2018) [2], the amount of catch from illegal sources can be significant. Illegal catch is not usually reflected in official fishery data, and can undermine the robustness of fisheries management [3]. IUU fishing is reported to have caused an annual economic loss of USD 5 billion in the Asia-Pacific alone [4], whereas the worldwide economic loss of illegal and unregulated catch is estimated to be USD 10 to 23.5 billion [1]. Due to its clandestine nature, visualizing the impacts of IUU fishing remains challenging [5]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion