Any Port in a Storm: Vessel Activity and the Risk of IUU-Caught Fish Passing through the World’s Most Important Fishing Ports

This study assesses the risk of fish from illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) sources passing through the world’s most important fishing ports and explores the drivers of this risk. Like previous studies it has attempted to rank ports and States based on landings and vessel visits reported by governments by using Automatic Identification System (AIS) positional data transmitted by fishing and fish carrier vessels to identify the locations of ports and rank them based on the frequency of visits by foreign-flagged and domestic-flagged vessels. It advances our thinking in that (i) the analysis includes an estimation of the hold capacity of fishing vessels and is therefore able to rank ports based on the total hold capacity of vessels visiting them and (ii) the profile and the frequency of vessel visits inform an assessment of the relative risks between different ports, and the implications for the implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). The study also assesses the accuracy and utility of AIS-derived data for determining IUU risk globally for all ports, notably by cross-referencing its findings with those of other studies. The study develops a broad suite of indicators that quantify and aggregate the AIS-derived port visit information in conjunction with published and publicly available policy and regulatory information drawn from other sources, such as the compliance record with binding port State measures of regional fisheries management organizations, to raise a global port State IUU Risk Index. The comparison of achieved risk scores with national income, levels of corruption, and geography provides insights into factors driving (aggravating) or modulating (mitigating) risks of IUU-caught seafood passing through a Nation’s fishing ports, and supports a view that States with weaker governance also face higher odds of visits by vessels likely to have engaged in IUU fishing (i.e. higher external risks). Based on an in-depth assessment of 14 individual ports globally, appended as a supplement to this paper, the study finds that overall, and with the possible exception of mandatory advance request procedures for entering ports, the implementation of key provisions of the 2009 PSMA remains severely lacking. The two main areas for improvement are the posting of publicly available PSM-related information on national and/or FAO portals, and the formal designation of ports

Sustainable Development Goal 14 in the Western Indian Ocean: a socio-ecological approach to understanding progress

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intend to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all people in the world”1. They have become a key driver for policy and decision-making in many regions, including in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. This paper analyses national and regional progress towards achieving SDG 14 in the WIO. Progress of four of the SDG 14 targets that were due in 2020 are analysed. SDG 14 has influenced regional and national policy agendas but current tools to measure this progress fail to provide a detailed picture of achievement towards each target for countries in the WIO. The paper highlights that the region has shown limited success in achieving the targets and SDG 14 targets are unlikely to be reached by 2030. The WIO region lags behind with regard to marine conservation related targets. More than half of the countries have low to average progress on SDG 14.2 on marine areas being covered by area-based management tools. Even more countries are far from achieving the 10 % coverage of marine protected areas under SDG 14.5. The region is performing better with regards to fisheries management targets with most countries classified as making average to good progress towards SDG 14.4 on sustainable stocks and SDG 14.6 on addressing harmful subsidies and IUU fishing. The diversity of the socio-economic and governance contexts in the WIO countries contributes to different levels of progress. The fairly positive ecological state of the WIO supports progress towards SDG 14. Understanding barriers to progress is fundamental to help with the prioritisation of the actions needed to meet the SDG 14 targets by 2030. Regional actors and policy-makers will need to increase their ambitions to meet the SDG 14 targets and ensure a healthy ocean and improved prospects for the region and its citizens. To account for barriers in progress towards SDG 14, the WIO region needs appropriate reporting and monitoring mechanisms and it should follow a holistic regional approach of ocean governance integrating conservation and sustainable resource use. It needs to build capacity and knowledge sharing for implementation of SDG 14 and ocean governance at various levels. Improved implementation of SDG targets will have social, economic and environmental benefits within the region

Destructive fishing : an expert‐driven definition and exploration of this quasi‐concept

Numerous policy and international frameworks consider that “destructive fishing” hampers efforts to reach sustainability goals. Though ubiquitous, “destructive fishing” is undefined and therefore currently immeasurable. Here we propose a definition developed through expert consultation: “Destructive fishing is any fishing practice that causes irrecoverable habitat degradation, or which causes significant adverse environmental impacts, results in long-term declines in target or nontarget species beyond biologically safe limits and has negative livelihood impacts.” We show strong stakeholder support for a definition, consensus on many biological and ecological dimensions, and no clustering of respondents from different sectors. Our consensus definition is a significant step toward defining sustainable fisheries goals and will help interpret and implement global political commitments which utilize the term “destructive fishing.” Our definition and results will help reinforce the Food and Agricultural Organization's Code of Conduct and meaningfully support member countries to prohibit destructive fishing practices

Secretariat of the Pacific Community 1 st SPC Heads of Fisheries Meeting The Involvement of Students in the Collection of Artisanal Fishery Data -A New Way Forward Paper tabled at the MRAG Workshop on Aspects of Coastal Resource Management -Suva, Fiji, 30

[email protected] Abstract Traditional subsistence and artisanal fisheries provide sustenance, employment and income to vast numbers of Pacific islanders, and are of great importance to national economies and food security. The pervasive lack of subsistence fisheries data across the region and the worrying number of accounts of collapsing stocks and species extinctions are of growing concern to authorities involved in the management of coastal fishery resources. The author explores new grounds on how to overcome two fundamental hurdles for the successful management of subsistence fisheries. It is argued that under a scenario of increasing fishing pressures and changing societies, basic data to found management decisions upon, and awareness of the new generation towards the vulnerability of their resources are fundamental. The proposed way of achieving both is through the "Artisanal Fisheries Student Census". Secondary schools integrate an assignment into their science curriculum, within the framework of which students get lectured on coastal resources and fisheries, and then record their household's fishing activity over a short period of time. The collected data flow back to competent authorities who analyse them and make them available for fisheries management purposes. The paper describes in some detail key considerations for the successful implementation of such a programme

FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No.629

This paper discusses the potential value of catch documentation schemes (CDS) in deep-sea fisheries (DSF), and the implementation modalities that have to be envisaged, to ensure the effectiveness of this trade-based tool to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The paper argues that CDS are indeed capable of directly addressing a number of IUU fishing practices known to occur in DSF, and that their adoption would improve compliance with fisheries management requirements. Key infringements that may be directly detected and addressed through a CDS include – but are not limited to – violations of closed areas harbouring protected vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in the deep ocean, and quota overfishing. The paper also establishes the notion that partial coverage of given species through a CDS at the level of individual RFMOs is incongruous from a trade monitoring and control perspective, and that CDS should be considered as either/or propositions with regard to species coverage. With most DSF species having broad distributions straddling many RFMOs, the implementation modality that avails itself as the most suitable option, enabling the operation of an effective CDS, is that of a centrally operated electronic CDS platform – called a super-CDS – shared by a plurality of institutional and state players

The 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries: Adopting, implementing or scoring results?

The paper presents the results of a major assessment of Code adoption and implementation in nine fishing countries in Asia (China, Thailand, Vietnam), Africa (Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea) and in the Caribbean (Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago), which are part of the international research project ECOST. The main findings are that the Code as an international policy instrument remains relevant and adaptable to the current international fisheries context, and that its guiding principles and provisions have been endorsed and adopted in almost unanimous fashion by the countries covered, and integrated into fisheries policy letters and legal frameworks. However, results also suggest that tackling the truly difficult issues in fisheries, such as combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing or adjusting fishing overcapacity has been a lot less successful. The design and implementation of necessary measures often remains very weak in domains with important economic and political dimensions. The causes for this are attributed to a mix of administrative inertia, lack of political will and stamina, and short-sighted economic considerations.Fisheries governance Responsible fisheries IUU fishing Fishing overcapacity.

The Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Index, 2019

This IUU Fishing Index has been developed to address the need to combat IUU fishing. For all 152 coastal countries of the world, a score is calculated based on a suite of 40 indicators. These relate to the prevalence of IUU fishing in each country, and their vulnerability and response to it, drawing on various coastal, flag, port, and other state responsibilities. The Index provides a measure of the degree to which states are exposed to and effectively combat IUU fishing

Any Port in a Storm: Vessel Activity and the Risk of IUU-Caught Fish Passing through the Worlds Most Important Fishing Ports

This study assesses the risk of fish from illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) sources passing through the world's most important fishing ports and explores the drivers of this risk.Like previous studies it has attempted to rank ports and States based on landings and vessel visits reported by governments by using Automatic Identification System (AIS) positional data transmitted by fishing and fish carrier vessels to identify the locations of ports and rank them based on the frequency of visits by foreignflagged and domestic-flagged vessels. It advances our thinking in that (i) the analysis includes an estimation of the hold capacity of fishing vessels and is therefore able to rank ports based on the total hold capacity of vessels visiting them and (ii) the profile and the frequency of vessel visits inform an assessment of the relative risks between different ports, and the implications for the implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). The study also assesses the accuracy and utility of AIS-derived data for determining IUU risk globally for all ports, notably by cross-referencing its findings with those of other studies.The study develops a broad suite of indicators that quantify and aggregate the AIS-derived port visit information in conjunction with published and publicly available policy and regulatory information drawn from other sources, such as the compliance record with binding port State measures of regional fisheries management organizations, to raise a global port State IUU Risk Index. The comparison of achieved risk scores with national income, levels of corruption, and geography provides insights into factors driving (aggravating) or modulating (mitigating) risks of IUU-caught seafood passing through a Nation's fishing ports, and supports a view that States with weaker governance also face higher odds of visits by vessels likely to have engaged in IUU fishing (i.e. higher external risks).Based on an in-depth assessment of 14 individual ports globally, appended as a supplement to this paper, the study finds that overall, and with the possible exception of mandatory advance request procedures for entering ports, the implementation of key provisions of the 2009 PSMA remains severely lacking. The two main areas for improvement are the posting of publicly available PSM-related information on national and/or FAO portals, and the formal designation of ports

Destructive Fishing: an expert-driven definition and exploration of this quasi-concept

Numerous policy and international frameworks consider that ‘destructive fishing’ hampers efforts to reach sustainability goals. Though ubiquitous, ‘destructive fishing’ is undefined and therefore currently immeasurable. Here we propose a definition developed through expert consultation: “Destructive fishing is any fishing practice that causes irrecoverable habitat degradation, or which causes significant adverse environmental impacts, results in long-term declines in target or non-target species beyond biologically safe limits and has negative livelihood impacts.” We show strong stakeholder support for a definition, consensus on many biological and ecological dimensions, and no clustering of respondents from different sectors. Our consensus definition is a significant step towards defining sustainable fisheries goals and will help interpret and implement global political commitments which utilise the term 'destructive fishing'. Our definition and results will help reinforce the FAO Code of Conduct and meaningfully support member countries to prohibit destructive fishing practices

Destructive fishing:An expert-driven definition and exploration of this quasi-concept

Numerous policy and international frameworks consider that “destructive fishing” hampers efforts to reach sustainability goals. Though ubiquitous, “destructive fishing” is undefined and therefore currently immeasurable. Here we propose a definition developed through expert consultation: “Destructive fishing is any fishing practice that causes irrecoverable habitat degradation, or which causes significant adverse environmental impacts, results in long-term declines in target or nontarget species beyond biologically safe limits and has negative livelihood impacts.” We show strong stakeholder support for a definition, consensus on many biological and ecological dimensions, and no clustering of respondents from different sectors. Our consensus definition is a significant step toward defining sustainable fisheries goals and will help interpret and implement global political commitments which utilize the term “destructive fishing.” Our definition and results will help reinforce the Food and Agricultural Organization's Code of Conduct and meaningfully support member countries to prohibit destructive fishing practices.</p