6th International Forum on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing 13-14 January 2011, Chatham House Speaker Abstracts SESSION 2: Unpacking IUU Drivers, impacts, policy responses John Pearce: Illegal Fishing The level of Illegal and unreported fishing worldwide has been estimated at between $10bn and $23.5bn annually, representing between 11 and 26 million tonnes, with strong regional differences in the levels of illegal fishing. The drivers behind illegal fishing are clear enough, and similar to those behind many other types of international environmental crime. Illegal fishers have a strong economic incentive in that many species of fish, particularly those that have been over-exploited and are thus in short supply, are of high value and hence the high potential returns from illegal fishing. The individual drivers that affect the economic decision making process of illegal fishing, the impacts of illegal fishing and policy recommendations to combat illegal fishing are described. Per Erik Bergh: Unreported and unregulated fishing Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is a severe global problem and one of the main obstructions to the achievement of sustainable fisheries. Estimated with a financial value in the range of USD 10 to 20 billion per year, IUU fishing represents a major loss of revenue, jobs and livelihood in developing countries where dependency on fisheries is high. IUU fishing respects neither national boundaries nor international attempts to manage high seas resources. It thrives where governance is weak and where countries struggle to meet their international responsibilities. This presentation will consider the definition and delineation between I, U and U, both in respect to the original FAO definition that is linked to the International Plan of Action on IUU fishing (IPOA-IUU) and to the more practical realities in national and high seas fisheries. The various drivers that may be behind unreported and unregulated fishing will be considered both from a general perspective and also by analysing specific case studies, mainly drawn from the African continent. The cross over to illegal fishing will be discussed in relation to these drivers and how they may guide us in appropriate policy responses to combat IUU fishing. Finally, the presentation will link change and policy frameworks to implementation which as the possible indicator of a successful strategy. Rebecca Metzner: Unravelling the economics of managing fishing capacity and (the links to) IUU fishing This presentation seeks to demystify the connections between managing fishing capacity and its well known, but perhaps less well understood, symptoms of IUU fishing and overexploitation. By looking at the different (yet common) policies and 1
drivers/forces that either support or undermine capacity management efforts, the presentation offers directions for broader governance reforms to be considered by regulators and regulated, alike. SESSION 3: EU regulation on IUU Fishing Sophie Bodin: The EU IUU Fishing regulation Where are we now? Where are we heading? The EU IUU Regulation is a comprehensive instrument which aims at preventing all illegally caught fish from entering the EU market. The Regulation is nondiscriminatory and applies to all import (and potentially) exports of marine fish to the EU. It also introduces measures to sanction EU nationals carrying out IUU activities under any flag, in any waters. Although the Regulation has only been in force for a year, we can already see results. A mutual assistance system to facilitate the exchange of information on IUU activities between the Commission, Member States and third countries is now operational which also assists Member States in focusing their verification and inspections at situations at risk. Sanctions are harmonised and may apply to vessels - by way of inclusion of the EU IUU vessels list (which applies to both EU and non-eu vessels) and to countries by way of listing as a non-cooperating country. The Commission has already started carrying out audit missions to verify that the Regulation is implemented properly. The mission aims at identifying short comings and assisting the country in complying better with the Regulation. The Commission is working closely with Member States and third countries to answer questions on the Regulation. It is also operating development programmes to assist developing countries in improving the implementation of the IUU Regulation. The IUU Regulation will, as foreseen in the Regulation be revised and the work will commence in 2011. The revision will take into account experiences and best practices encountered since the start of the implementation but will not include deviation from set provisions. The Regulation aim at providing a culture of compliance and the Commission is strongly supporting international measures which are designed to fight IUU fishing and improve global and integrated control systems. Markus Bürgener: South Africa s experiences in implementing the regulation South Africa has a highly productive and diverse fisheries sector, producing a large number of fish products that are destined for international trade, in particular the European Union, South Africa s biggest market by value and volume for seafood products. These include fish and fish products from the Patagonian toothfish, abalone, tuna, swordfish, shark, rock lobster, small pelagics and traditional linefish sectors. While some of these fisheries are well managed, a number of them are characterised by poor catch and landing data and in certain instances there is illegal catch and trade. Furthermore, South Africa plays a key entrepot role for seafood trade in the region with many foreign-flagged vessels landing their catch in South Africa where much of it is trans-shipped (sometimes after processing) to international markets, including EU Member States. The EU Regulation on IUU fishing which came into force on the 1 st of January 2010 provides a trade related measure intended 2
to tackle IUU fishing and provision is made for determining impact of the Regulation in 2015. A study undertaken by TRAFFIC in South Africa is developing a baseline on the status of IUU fishing and related trade for the country, as well as socio-economic dynamics of the South African fisheries sector for the period prior to the Regulation coming into force. Future assessments within the project will attempt to evaluate the impact of the Regulation on both IUU fishing as well as on the South African fisheries sector, measured against the baseline. Research results to date have included feedback from industry and government stakeholders on the impact of the evaluation. These preliminary results predominantly reflect the opinion that the EU Regulation is not having an effect on IUU fishing but is resulting in financial and administrative costs to both government and industry. Stuart Wilson: Independent compliance monitoring in fisheries: Lessons from the forestry sector REM is an organisation that specialises in monitoring the legality and governance of natural resource exploitation. Though our experience has developed over the past 10 years in the forest sector, REM propose that the model itself may be applicable to tackling similar problems of weak governance and illegality in the fisheries sector. As it has been expressed on the Chatham House website, if fisheries laws cannot be enforced then they are worthless. We fully agree with this perspective and in our experience in the forest sector, it is necessary to focus on the final stages of the enforcement process, i.e. the actions taken based on result of the monitoring, the legal process and the conclusion of that legal process. Working in partnership with the host government, our experience is that the personnel doing the monitoring are sometimes well trained and competent, but that results are not forthcoming, or not processed, etc. We understand that corruption happens at all levels, top to bottom. It has been REM s role is to audit the overall administrative and monitoring system to see where it is breaking down and why, providing information on the reality of enforcement vs. the theory, and contributing to improvements. This involves field work looking into the production transport and processing activities but also investigative checks in to administrative and judicial processes. The proposed model for achieving this task involves a tripartite agreement with the national government, an independent monitor (IM) and international donors. All verifications are carried out against an agreed standard and in the model proposed; this standard is usually identified national legal texts. Publication of the findings of the IM is allowed under the terms of reference agreed with the relevant Ministry. The details of the model and how its applicability to the fisheries sector is to be tested, and will be put forward in the presentation. SESSION 4: Addressing IUU Fishing in North America Rebecca Lent: US efforts to address IUU fishing and achieve sustainable fisheries In addition to its domestic mandate to achieve sustainable fisheries, the United States strives for global ecosystem-based fisheries management. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to undermine efforts to ensure healthy, viable fishing communities and the protection of endangered species and the marine environment. The United States recognizes it is one of the largest import markets for fisheries products and must ensure that this demand is not a driver for unsustainable fisheries. In addition to partnering with other countries in multilateral fora to address IUU fishing and bycatch, the United States has implemented unilateral measures to assist and encourage other countries to make progress towards effective fisheries monitoring and control. A key component of this collaborative effort is capacity 3
building, which is currently focused on three regions: West Africa, the Coral Triangle, and the Caribbean. New initiatives are underway in 2011 to achieve shark conservation as well as marine mammal bycatch. Elinor Colbourn: Prosecutions under the Lacey Act The Lacey Act is the most powerful tool in the criminal prosecutor's arsenal for cases involving illegal fishing. This presentation will cover the very basics of the elements of Lacey Act offenses as applied to fisheries cases, highlight some of the most significant fisheries prosecutions involving international players and fisheries trade, but also note the limitations of this statute in the current international regulatory framework. Morley Knight: Canada s approach to tackling IUU fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a serious global problem and is, in Canada s opinion, one of the major threats to sustainable fisheries. This presentation will look at Canada s efforts to combat IUU fishing as a member of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). It will also examine elements which Canada believes necessary to successfully combat IUU fishing, including action along the value chain, cooperation, States acting responsibly, and the role of non-flag States. SESSION 5: Addressing IUU Fishing in Africa Manuel Castiano: Combating IUU fishing in Mozambique, the case of the Antillas Reefer This presentation is oriented to show how developing country as Mozambique is can counter IUU fishing specifically with its long coastline 2780Km (with a third largest coastline in Africa) and declared EEZ - 200NM, without huge patrol fleet what set a number of challenges to the Maritimes authorities in particular regarding to fisheries mainly linked to IUU. Recognizing its weaknesses strategically Mozambique concentrated its efforts giving emphasis on Port State controls to eliminate IUU fishing within its own waters, collaboration with RFMO and verification of documents. These are cost effective assets that not require financial platforms which developing country have not. In essence with this priority in its MCS system Mozambique could avoid to license IUU vessels, brought in to port some IUU vessels and removed them from the sea. The Antillas Reefer case is an example of using these cost effectively tools. This vessel was owned by a Namibian registered company based in Walvis Bay named as OMPALA FISHING PTY LTD, Joint Venture between MABENAL, S.A. Uruguayan company with headquarter in Spain and GONGALA FISHING Namibian company with headquarter in Namibia. While Mozambican authorities were checking Antillas Reefer licensing application, which is updated to allow collecting many information of history of the vessel, information was received reporting that unknown vessel called Antillas Reefer was fishing in Mozambican waters without license. Recognizing its limitations to pursuit and chase the vessel the representative company was directed to bring the vessel into Maputo port for further investigation, pre-fishing briefing and analyse, allegedly for further issuing of the license. The vessels only reach to Maputo on the beginning of July where was inspected, logbook 4
checked and found out that the vessel was in Mozambican jurisdictional waters for a while fishing without license. From inspection was discovered that the vessel had on board 43 tonnes of shark, 4 tonnes of shark fin, 1.8t of shark tail, 11.3t of shark liver and 20t of shark oil. The vessel was also carrying a large (65t) quantity of bait and illegal fishing gear, including long lines of up to two kilometres in length. The presentation bring some lesson learnt regarding to the way of approaching such kind of case mainly inter-agency cooperation, international cooperation, training of personnel and destination of IUU vessels. Séraphin Nadje Dedi: Implementing the Port State Measures Agreement in Africa The Fishery Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) was legally established by the Convention of Cotonou, Benin in 2007 and comprises six countries: Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. The FCWC is committed to ending illegal fishing in the sub region. The adoption of PSMA is welcomed for African countries to strengthen action to combat illegal fishing. It s recognised that PSMA offers many opportunities for African countries for implementation, in terms of relatively cost-effective element of a Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) system, develop Greater awareness. Therefore some initiatives have been taken by countries and partners which need to be strengthened. But, also challenges to work on for better result of this instrument in fisheries management. We need to build capacity, establish legal authority in national legislation to enable effective enforcement action to be taken in accordance with, establish systematic cooperation between RFMO, port, flag and coastal states as well as other organisations and the sharing of information and intelligence and demonstrated what is there to be gained. Way forwards should be to build capacity and awareness about PSMA and the potential value from implementing them, encouraging a regional approach, developing cooperation and sharing of information, ask for fast implementation of article 22 at COFI 2011 - etc. FCWC will really appreciate if anyone willing to work with to implement PSMA in West Africa region. SESSION 6: Incentives for combating IUU fishing Aaron Hatcher: The use of market mechanisms in fisheries This presentation looks at fisheries management and illegal fishing from an economic perspective, identifying the economic benefits and costs of fishing and fisheries enforcement. It then gives a brief overview of the economic rationale for employing market instruments (such as ITQs) to manage fisheries, considering how these might affect incentives for non-compliance, as well as that for demand-side management using labelling schemes. Grimur Valdimarsson: Rights-based fisheries management: opportunities and challenges for addressing IUU fishing IUU fishing is now both widespread and highly organized. The seriousness of this problem is becoming recognized. International efforts to address this menace have demonstrated how complex it is to curb and that there is no single silver bullet in 5
keeping it at bay. One underlying aspect of IUU fishing is the general resistance to assign clear fishing rights to participants in the worlds capture fisheries. The idea of mare liberum and inexhaustibility of the ocean are still important mental stimulants in justifying open, semi-open or very weak access regimes for fishery resources. With current fish finding and capture technology, coupled with high demand for fishery products on the international market such fisheries management philosophies lead to severe overfishing. Testimonies to that abound from all over the world. Rights based systems demand rigorous data to be submitted to the authorities, which builds in a significant safeguard against misreporting and corruption. It is estimated that today some 20 percent of global catches are caught under rights based systems that incur strong fishing rights. It is high time that international organizations, in particular the FAO, formally take up the issue of fishing rights as a fundamental issue in achieving sustainable fisheries and curbing IUU fishing. Mark Powell: The role of seafood labels and certification The acceptance of low-grade mystery fish in the seafood marketplace opens the door for Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Ecolabels and seafood rating schemes help seafood buyers understand what they re buying. This is an important step forward in reforming a marketplace that so routinely tolerates poor quality such as the unscrupulous origins of products from IUU fishing. The quality aspects of IUU products deserve attention. IUU products are only one example of the poor quality products that are common in the seafood business. Where seafood producers can get away with inflating products with water and salts in order to expand profits by selling water for seafood prices, we are unlikely to see a regulatory grip or traceability standards that are sufficiently stringent to completely block entry of IUU products into the marketplace. In such an environment, laundering product origins is just another illegal shortcut on the way to a bigger payday. Ecolabels and seafood rating schemes can best attack IUU fishing by building a quality emphasis among seafood buyers and making product origins matter. While product origins and IUU fishing are technical-sounding terms that put seafood buyers to sleep, the underlying issues have power. Campaigning against pirate fishing could likely be as successful as efforts to make tuna dolphin-safe. 6