Fishing problems: Illegal fishing
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is an enormous problem. It occurs in virtually all fisheries, and is thought to account for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries.
Given that pirates don’t report their catches, their level of fishing is hard to quantify. However, catches of some species are thought to be many times more than the permitted level due to IUU fishing.
IUU fishing includes:
- fishing in contravention of the laws and regulations of a country or an international agreement
- misreporting catches to the relevant authority
- fishing in a way that undermines management efforts to conserve marine species and ecosystems
Flags of Convenience
The biggest problem for fisheries management and the fight against IUU fishing are so-called flags of convenience (FoC).
Under existing laws governing the High Seas, the law of the flag state - the country in which a vessel is registered - applies. So if a country either hasn't signed up to fishing agreements or doesn't enforce them, then vessels flagged to that country are able to plunder the High Seas, and even other nations' waters, at will.
One industry source estimates that 1,300 fishing vessels of significant size are flying flags of convenience.
Under existing laws governing the High Seas, the law of the flag state - the country in which a vessel is registered - applies. So if a country either hasn't signed up to fishing agreements or doesn't enforce them, then vessels flagged to that country are able to plunder the High Seas, and even other nations' waters, at will.
One industry source estimates that 1,300 fishing vessels of significant size are flying flags of convenience.
The pirates disguise the origin of their illegal catch so well that it is often sold legitimately into consumer markets - mainly in Japan, the EU, the US, and other developed countries.
IUU fishing has enormous consequences. South Africa, for example, has reportedly lost US$290 million since the mid-1990s to toothfish poachers alone, and legitimate toothfish fishing has been virtually wiped out. One of the country’s toothfish stocks collapsed after just three years of pirate fishing.
The poachers are not just decimating valuable fish populations: they are also killing tens of thousands of marine animals as bycatch and destroying delicate habitats through their unregulated use of damaging, and sometimes illegal, fishing practices.
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The case of the Patagonian toothfish
If you've ever eaten Chilean sea bass or mero, there's a 20% chance that what was on your plate was caught and traded illegally.
Marketed under many names, Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is an extremely tasty species that fetches a high price in restaurants around the world.The toothfish lives at great depths (2,500-3,000m) in the Southern Ocean, where it can grow to over 2m in length and live for more than 50 years. Like many deep-sea species, it is extremely slow growing and does not reach sexual maturity until it is more than six years old.
Because of the relatively long time it takes toothfish to mature, heavy fishing will mean that many toothfish will be caught before they have a chance to reproduce. This means that no new adults can replace those lost from fishing, and the ability of populations to replenish themselves is quickly lost.
The high price paid for the fish and the difficulty of patrolling the vast and treacherous Southern Ocean means that a huge amount of illegal fishing continues. This pirate fishing accounts for at least half the Patagonian toothfish in the market, and is the single biggest threat to the species. The problem is widespread, with illegal and unregulated longliners operating from some 11 countries. These longliners also catch and kill devastating numbers of seabirds, many of which are critically endangered.
More information
- Article: Last chance saloon?
- Article: Time to tackle the pirates
- Report: Illegal fishing continues to threaten Patagonian toothfish
- Case study: Toothfish poaching in the Southern Ocean
