At its seventy-second session in November 2017, the United Nations General Assembly declared 5 June the International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing.
The date was selected to celebrate the first international treaty designed to end illegal fishing – the FAO Port State Measures Agreement, which entered into force on 5 June 2016.
IUU fishing remains one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems because it undermines national and regional efforts that promote sustainable fishing practices and marine biodiversity conservation.
IUU fishing -on the high seas and within national jurisdictions- represents up to 26 million tonnes of fish caught annually, valued at USD 10 to 23 billion.
The international day for the fight against IUU fishing presents an opportunity to draw attention to threats posed by IUU fishing and the ongoing efforts to combat these activities.
International Instruments Introduced to Fight Illegal Fishing
While ending IUU fishing is still a daunting challenge, international instruments introduced to facilitate this include:
Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels, 2014: state-certified repository of vessels involved in fishing operations.
FAO Port State Measures Agreement, 2016: prevents illegally caught fish from entering international markets through ports.
FAO Catch Documentation Schemes, 2017: provides more harmonised traceability of fish along the value chain.
FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Marking Fishing Gear (negotiated by technical working group 2018, pending FAO endorsement): international guidelines for the marking of fishing gear, aimed at eliminating abandoned, lost or discarded gear.
For more on IUU fishing, see:
FAO ‘Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing.’
