International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Regional cooperation is reducing illegal, unreported and unregulated tuna fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global criminal activity resulting in direct loss of income for coastal states, negative impacts for fish populations and their ecosystems, and compromised fisheries management.But the good news for Pacific tuna fisheries is that the estimated annual volume of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific has reduced over the past decade with only 5% due to illegal fishing of tuna, according to a recent Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) report [December 14, 2021].The report estimated the total annual volume of tuna product harvested or transhipped in the Pacific involving IUU activity during 2017-19 to be 192,186 tonnes, worth some $333 million (ex-vessel value). This compares with a similar study conducted between 2010-15 where IUU was estimated at 306,440 tonnes, worth about $616 million.“This result shows that the strong regional cooperation between FFA members on monitoring, control and surveillance is working,” says FFA’s Director General, Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen. “The Pacific tuna fishery covers a large body of water and our island states have limited resources, but it reinforces that our strategies are having a profound impact on the volume and nature of IUU in the Pacific.”

4746: Implementation of Global and Regional Oceanic Fisheries Conventions and Related Instruments in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

16 des. 2021

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