According to researchers each year about 26m tones of fish, worth an estimated $23bn are landed. They also said that this needs to be crack down through efficient global monitoring and information sharing network. Eighty percent of the world’s fish stocks are deemed to be fully or overexploited. Kristin von Kistowski, a senior adviser to the Pew Environment Group, opined that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a global problem and it needs a global answer.
Under the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea, the control of a vessel’s activities is the responsibility of the “flag state”, the nation where the boat is registered. Dr von Kistowski also informed that in November 2009, in an effort to strengthen measures to tackle IUU fishing, the UN approved a legally binding Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) that would require the “port state” to close its ports and ban the landing of fish of any vessel listed as being involved in illegal or unregulated activities.
The research highlighted three key concerns namely insufficient vessel information, Lack of compliance, and Regional focus. Chatham House, the London-based international affairs think tank, says IUU fishing has a number of “serious consequences”.
