Update on combating illegal fishing in Asia Robert Lee & Simon Funge-Smith The 16th Asia Regional Partners’ Forum on Combating Environmental Crime (ARPEC) 15th January 2015, United Nations Conference Center (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand

1. Update on combating illegal
fishing in Asia
Robert Lee & Simon Funge-Smith
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
The 16th Asia Regional Partners’ Forum on Combating Environmental Crime (ARPEC)
15th
January 2015, United Nations Conference Center (UNCC), Bangkok, Thailand

2. What is IUU fishing?
• Fishing activities that are carried out in a manner
that is inconsistent with, or in contravention of,
the conservation and management measures in
force for a particular fishery.
• Fishing activities that:
– Violates of international laws, bilateral agreements
– Violates national laws
– Does not fulfil broader responsibilities of States under
the law of the sea to conserve and manage the marine
living resources of the high seas
– Does not comply or undermines the management
measures of an RFMO . Do not need to be a contracting
party
– Is not reported, or is misreported in contravention of
international laws and regulations
• Typically includes unregulated fishing where no formal
management arrangements exist even though such
fishing is often not in contravention of applicable
national or international law.

3. Different forms of IUU in marine fisheries

4. Who conducts IUU
fishing?
• There are IUU activities by small-scale vessels
– in their own waters, and in some
circumstances in the EEZs of other States
– Incidental IUU activities occasional or
opportunistic activity
– Otherwise legitimate commercial fishers
seeking to increase profits
• The serious threat is from regular IUU activity
– Under the cover of legal industrial fishing
operations,
– Parts of the operation legitimate/legal
– Seeking to minimize access fees and costs
and maximize profits
– Tax evasion
– Industrial fishing operations making no
attempt to legitimize their enterprise
– Deliberately set out to conduct IUU fishing

5. Why should action be taken to combat IUU
fishing?
• Undermines fishery management
– overfishing, illegal gears, illegal catch, target
endangered species
• Non payment of fees
– “theft of fish”
– loss of economic benefit to the country and legitimate
fishers
• Unregulated vessels
– Human trafficking
– Slavery
– Unsafe/abusive working conditions
• Opens up potential for other forms of trans-
national crime particularly smuggling:
– Fuel
– Narcotics
– Migrants, trafficking
– Arms
– CITES species (shark fin, turtle, shells, etc.)
– Contraband

6. Gaps and omissions and overlap in Legal
and Institutional frameworks (1)
• Gaps
– Antiquated Laws – IUU not included
– Laws only inside of EEZ
– Fisheries Department no legal mandate to inspect
• Omission / oversight
–IUU fish is not classed as contraband by Customs
except CITES species
–No monitoring of transshipment or trade of Illegal fish
–No inspection of fishing boats by Maritime
Administration but responsible for registration
–Carrier vessels registered as fishing vessels
–Fisheries issue fishing license but not vessel registry
–Insufficient investment and or coordination between
Ministries

7. How does it look in Asia-Pacific?
• A great deal of international attention is paid to RFMO
areas and high seas fisheries
– Tuna RFMOs (IOTC, WCPFC) Indian Ocean, Western Central Pacific
– High seas drift netting
– Toothfish caught in CCAMLR area Commission for Conservation of
Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
• Majority of waters in South East Asia fall under EEZ.
– Large scale vessels fishing in artisanal/reserved/closed zones
• Domestic IUU
• Use of illegal gear Asian EEZs
• Unregistered vessels
– Trans-boundary IUU
• Fishing in other countries waters without a license
• Trans-shipping of fish out of one EEZ to land elsewhere in contravention of
access agreement
• Cheating on access agreements (extra vessels, same markings)
– IUU fish from other regions shipped to Asia for processing (containers)
– Movement of CITES (Appendix 1) species

8. International instruments
which support action (1)
• 1982 UNCLOS
– gives States sovereign authority to regulate the
terms of entry to internal waters and hence their
ports.
• Shipping
– IMO port controls on merchant vessels
– 1982 Paris MOU on port state controls
– IMO technical conventions, global strategy etc.
• Environment
– 2001 World Summit on Sustainable Development
outcomes
• Fisheries
– 1995 UN fish Stock Agreements (UNFSA)
– 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible
Fisheries
– 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent,
Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and
Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU)
– Certain UNGA fisheries resolutions and FAO COFI
decisions
– Port State Measures Agreement

9. International instruments
which support action (2)
• Project SCALE – 1st
. International Fisheries
enforcement Conference, Feb 2013
• Detect, Suppress and combat fisheries crime
• Objectives
– Raise Awareness on fisheries crime
– Establish National Environmental Security Task
– Needs Assessment of countries
– Conduct operations to suppress
• Activities
– Strategic plan for Interpol
– Develop Fisheries crime working Group
– Case study for fisheries crime in West Africa
– Enhance and expand International marine enforcement
network
– Provide expertise
– Conduct operations (regional or commodity sensitive)
http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-
crime/Projects/Project-Scale

10. Principal legal & institutional
actions to combat IUU
• Institutional reforms
– Update national legislation
– Reform departmental mandates to
actively combat IUU fishing
– Improve inter-department cooperation to
control fishing vessels
– Vessel registers (national )
– Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS)
– Strengthen Flag State controls
– Conduct Port State Measures
– Catch documentation schemes

11. Coordination between National Agencies
Customs, Fisheries & Maritime Transport, Police, Navy
• Harmonize actions for Port Inspections
• Push for legislative reform if necessary
• Designate focal points
• International and Regional Cooperation with other countries’
– Communicate information
– Regional Plan of Action
– ARPEC has a role to play in raising awareness, advocacy

12. Port State Measures
• International agreement aimed to:
– Block cash flows to IUU fishers and therefore the
incentive to engage in IUU fishing
– Makes it difficult for IUU fish to be imported or traded
– Makes it difficult for transshipment and trade in
HCFC under the Montreal Protocol – Foreseeable
• Status
– Opened for accession
• Combat IUU fishing by prohibiting
– Port access
– Landing, transhipment, processing
– Port services
– Sale, trade, purchase, export, import of IUU caught
fish
• Combat IUU fishing by enabling
– Seizure, forfeiture of catch
– Criminal, civil, administrative proceedings
– Cooperation with flag state, RFMOs on enforcement
and deterrence
– Cost-effectiveness – compared to aircraft and ships
– Integration with health, security, safety controls
– Coordinated system of controls

13. Flag State controls and
responsibilities
• Ensure no vessels operates without an
authorization
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date fishing
vessel register
– flag and unique number
– Do not register vessels with IUU fishing
history
– Cross check with other countries for dual
flagging
– Inspect vessels in port for documentation
• Maintain basic control mechanisms on
vessels flying flag
– Engaging in, or supporting, IUU fishing
– includes transport and support vessels
• Develop and maintain a record of fishing
vessels including:
– past and present names
– full beneficial ownership and contact details
– history of non-compliance by the vessel
– full vessel specifications and safety record

14. Market Measures
• Closely related to the implementation of Port State measures
– Prohibit IUU fish from being imported or traded, by denial of entry to port
– Prohibit the trade in illegal HCFCs - Montreal Protocol (Can be considered)
• Large fishing vessels highly dependent on ODS for preservation of products
• No refrigeration No fish – HCFC - Trading and transshipping in part and sea
• Controls on access to HCFCs sanctions for vessels with illegal fish
• Examples of controls
– EU Regulation 1005/2008 on catch certification
– Reissued Magnusson-Stevenson Act( USA)
– Catch documentation and traceability schemes
– Track the fish is probably easier than tracking money
• (cannot hide fish electronically)

15. Regulating
transhipment at sea
• Transhipment outside the territorial sea should be
regulated to prevent laundering of catches
• Countries should monitor transhipments
• Establish measures such as:
– vessel registers
– mandatory notification of intention to tranship
– application of VMS

16. Next Steps
• Raise awareness that IUU is an Environmental Crime and is
everybody’s business
• Use the ARPEC forum partners as a vehicle for better
coordination to fight IUU
• Advocate within your own agencies for better coordination and
filling the Gaps, Omissions and Oversights
• Lobby for reforms and improved legislation
• Define ARPEC’s Role in combating IUU
• Regional meeting on Combatting IUU

17. Everybody’s seas
China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines
China, Japan, Philippines
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