Fisheries Intelligence Report

This report has been jointly produced by Global Fishing Watch and Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) on request of Somalia.

Collateral damage? Small-scale fisheries in the global fight against IUU fishing

© 2020 The Authors. Fish and Fisheries published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Concern over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has led to a number of policy, trade and surveillance measures. While much attention has been given to the impact of IUU regulation on industrial fleets, recognition of the distinct impacts on small-scale fisheries is conspicuously lacking from the policy and research debate. In this paper, we outline three ways in which the application of IUU discourse and regulation undermines small-scale fisheries. First, the mainstream construction of “illegal,” “unreported” and “unregulated” fishing, and also the categorical use of “IUU” in an all-inclusive sense, disregards the diversity, legitimacy and sustainability of small-scale fisheries practices and their governing systems. Second, we explore how the recent trade-related measures to counter IUU fishing mask and reinforce existing inequalities between different sectors and countries, creating an unfair burden on small-scale fisheries and countries who depend on them. Third, as IUU fishing is increasingly approached as “organized crime,” there is a risk of inappropriately targeting small-scale fisheries, at times violently. Reflecting on these three trends, we propose three strategies by which a more sensitive and ultimately more equitable incorporation of small-scale fisheries can be supported in the global fight against IUU fishing

[Tools] Global Fishing Watch Vessel Tracking Map

The map gives the public a way to see the tracks of commercial fishing vessels at sea in near real-time. Using our freely accessible map, anyone is able to analyze historical commercial fishing activity and marine traffic data, dating back to 2012, upload their own datasets to deepen and broaden their own analyses and save and share their work. For more information: http://globalfishingwatch.org/our-map

Global Fishing Watch

Global Fishing watch is an independent, non profit organization that provides data and reports in order to provide greater transparency of human activity at sea

Analysis of the Southeast Pacific Distant Water Squid Fleet

The number of fishers that catch squid has increased in recent years, with fishing capacity in commercially important squid fisheries growing globally. The southeast Pacific is no exception. Between 1990 and 2018, the annual reported catch from the high seas has increased from ~5,000 to ~278,000 tons from three commission members; China, Chinese Taipei, and Republic of Korea (SC7-SQ01 Squid). The high seas distant water fleet has grown from a flag State reported 6 vessels in 1990 to 528 in 2019 (SC8 - SQ01_rev1_clean). The distribution of the jumbo flying squid ranges from southern Chile, up to north American waters, and extends out into the high seas, into an area that is jointly managed by Member States via the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO). Fisheries targeting the jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) are of clear socio-economic importance in Chile, Peru and Ecuador on a commercial and artisanal fisher scale, as well as to the international distance water fleet. During the 2020 Commission meeting, SPRFMO introduced its first Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) directly related to the management of the squid, however the fishery still lags behind fisheries targeting other species in the Pacific. For example, vessels are required to be authorized on the SPRFMO Vessel List, in order to fish within the SPRFMO area, however transshipment of squid (the at sea transfer of catch), unlike other targeted species in the Convention Area, do not require prior authorization from the flag States to confirm compliance with SPRFMO CMMs. The sustainability of the squid fishery, and the distribution of fishing effort is largely unknown. An understanding of the spatial distribution, composition and behavior of the squid fleet operating in this area should be studied in depth

Global Fishing Watch IUU Fishing Map - Nov. 11, 2021 - Feb. 11, 2022

We combine tracking data from the publicly available automatic identification system (AIS) and integrate that with information acquired through vessel monitoring systems that are operated by governments and made available to us through partnerships that we secure. Both AIS and VMS combine global positioning with a transmitter to regularly broadcast vessel location

[Tools] Global Fishing Watch Carrier Vessel Portal

The Global Fishing Watch Carrier Vessel Portal can help compliance, MCS and enforcement officers analyze the activities of carrier vessels that transship catch from commercial fishing vessels and land this catch into ports around the globe for processing and further trade. The portal can be used to verify transshipment activities and identify when such activities are not being adequately reported