International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing 2021: Increased Technology helps End Illegal Fishing

On June 5th, the 3rd annual United Nations International Day for the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing would be observed.

Why Illegal fishing is considered to be complex problem?

Illegal fishing is considered to be very complex problem; here the public must understand that there is no one-layer solution to end it. The solution is multilayered and it involves all states, the fishing industry, tech companies, NGOs and end consumers. It is not the responsibility of the one stakeholder, one nation, and one group. Awareness, communication and coordination are the key. And progress can be made faster, if all party's tries to take responsibility of their part and they hold themselves accountable.

IUU Fishing means Illegal, unreported and unregulated

A Major problem posed by the IUU fishing is that, it weakens the efforts to sustainably manage varied fish stocks. The reason being, the fisheries management measures are based on data, which may not be accurate if IUU catches and efforts are not accounted for, putting stocks which are already vulnerable in even more danger.

What is Flag State?

A flag states helps in proper registration of its fishing vessels and it is responsible for having a robust monitoring, control as well as a surveillance system on its fleets.

Why flag states are important in the fight against IUU?

Flag states are fundamental, they help prevent IUU fishing from taking place in the 1st place and for enforcing, on their vessels, international as well as domestic laws were designed to end IUU fishing and related illegal activities.

What is transshipment and what role does it play in IUU fishing?

Transshipment means, transfer of fish from a fishing vessel to carrier vessel, in other words, it takes the catch back to the port. And it often does take place far out on the high seas, where it would be difficult to monitor. It does play a really significant role in the fishing industry, but it tends to add one more step in the supply chain, at the same time increasing the risk of IUU fish being landed at the port.

How the technological advance does affect the transshipment oversight as well as fisheries governance?

Overall, we tend to witness the benefits of technology have offered us, the ability to have eyes on, what is happening at sea and validate what's being reported, while at the same time, detecting the increased risk of IUU activity.