IUU Fishing: A Vessel for Illicit Activities and Modern Slavery in the Fishing Industry
By Celine Kusnadi, GCDC Program Assistant
About 30% of the global seafood harvest is estimated to be illegally fished. In 2011 alone, illegal catch comprised between 20% and 32% ($1.3–2.1 billion) of wild-caught seafood in the United States.. Millions of American shoppers have been unknowingly consuming seafood products tainted by forced labor and illegal practices in the fishing industry for years, unaware of the scope of unsustainable fishing practices in already overexploited oceans.
A fish certified as “sustainable” does not always mean it has been caught legally. 20% of the global seafood catch is caught using illicit fishing practices and mixed together with legitimately harvested piles in the supply chain, making it virtually impossible to tell one from the other. This is why it is difficult to accurately trace where commercially fished seafood is harvested from. In fish-rich nations, high demand for cheap seafood paired with the lack of strong marine regulations drives the depletion of fish populations and damages marine habitats and ecosystems. This unsustainable management of fish stocks also negatively impacts the economic growth and well-being of local and indigenous communities to whom fishing activities are vital. In recent years, the contribution of sustainable fisheries to global GDP has hovered at around 0.1% per year, reflecting the continued lack of growth in the sustainability of global fish stocks. It has become clear that illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) carries a steep cost. In developing countries around the world and especially within Southeast Asia, where such practices are common, IUU fishing has also become an engine of slavery.
What is IUU Fishing?
IUU fishing is defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as any fishing activity that violates both national and international fishing regulations. Illegal fishing refers to the harvest of seafood from the ocean in contravention of applicable laws and regulations, including those laws and rules adopted at the regional and international level. Unreported fishing refers to fishing activities that are not reported or are misreported to relevant authorities in contravention of national laws and regulations or reporting procedures of a relevant regional fisheries management organization (RMFO).
Unregulated fishing occurs in areas or for fish stocks for which there are no applicable conservation or management measures and when fishing activities are conducted in a manner inconsistent with a state’s responsibilities for the conservation of living marine resources under international law. Fishing activities are also unregulated when occurring in an RFMO-managed area and conducted by vessels without nationality, or by those flying a flag of a state or fishing entity that is not a party to the RFMO.
Such IUU activities make it easier to catch fish irresponsibly and cause major revenue losses for countries that are already struggling to monitor their jurisdictional waters. On average, the losses from IUU fishing are estimated to be between $10 billion and $36.4 billion annually or up to 24% of the $150 billion global seafood trade.
Not only do IUU activities pose a threat to economic security and natural resources, but the fishing industry is also riddled with human trafficking and the forced labor of fishermen during the harvesting and processing of seafood.
Low-income migrants from developing countries are especially vulnerable to deceptive labor conditions. Working conditions aboard fishing vessels can be gruesome and inhumane. A 2009 survey by the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) found that 59% of interviewed migrants trafficked aboard Thai fishing boats reported witnessing the murder of a fellow worker. Yet, it is nearly impossible for crew members to return to shore because they are trapped at sea for months — if not years — at a time due to rising fuel prices and a lack of fish close to shore.
Why are IUU Fishing and Modern-Day Slavery Still an Issue?
Over 80% of seafood in the United States is imported; in 2018, the US was the world’s top seafood importer. The demand for cheap seafood has led to substantial excess capacity, or too many and/or oversized boats catching too few fish. As coastal areas become overfished, vessels fish further into the ocean and will often resort to IUU fishing. Transshipping — the transfer of cargo, supplies, and crew between vessels — is also linked to other organized transnational crimes at sea, including trafficking and forced labor. Though transshipping is a legal practice, it is utilized as a method to facilitate the movement of crewmembers between vessels at sea while avoiding inspection at port. As a result, transshipping sustains the continued exploitation and abuse of fishermen onboard substandard fishing vessels.
The pressure to keep seafood prices low leads to disregard for the value of human life, as companies severely underpay fishers or deny them pay altogether. In addition, the lack of both regulation from non-RMFO member states and serious penalties from crime-implicated governments increases the risk of IUU and slavery tainted catch reaching the legal supply chain. This allows tainted seafood to seep into licit catch and eventually to retailers such as Whole Foods, Walmart, and major pet food producers.
Tackling IUU Fishing, Illicit Activities, and Forced Labor Networks
Common crimes on the high seas, such as document and customs fraud, corruption, and money laundering, are closely linked to IUU fishing and forced labor activities. However, these crimes are often assessed as individual crimes, rather than crimes by vessel owners and labor recruiters. Crewmembers often bear the penalties and are convicted while the vessel owners and labor recruiters escape with impunity. Investigating deeper into these crimes will reveal links to the perpetrator vessel’s ultimate owners and its associated networks onshore.
Moreover, companies with complex operational activities in many countries are often the perpetrators of organized crime in the fishing industry. These same companies are often associated with illicit vessels that are engaged in IUU fishing and forced labor activities. Targeting them instead of the crew is a more effective and appropriate deterrent in bringing down the syndicate and mitigating the overall issue.
Yet fishing companies often repeat their offenses due to weak enforcement that bear insignificant costs to them. For example, vessel owners can register to countries that are known for their ease of regulation and lax monitoring of vessels. Since no single body is currently responsible for setting and enforcing fishing regulations, vessels historically implicated in IUU fishing can continue to operate with impunity.
Therefore, local governments need to have stronger and more uniform regulations and enforcement across jurisdictions to establish a transparent and cooperative fishing vessel record. Governments around the world can do this by listing their countries in RMFO(s) and ratifying, implementing, and enforcing international fishing regulations such as the UN Convention on the Law of Sea, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards across jurisdictions. Adhering to the same standards — such as criminalizing forced labor as a stand-alone offense — will discourage the exploitation of forced labor through tougher penalties.
Subsidies can also play a role in encouraging IUU fishing. Governments around the world spend a combined $22 billion per year to support the industrial fishing sector. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that the most damaging kinds of subsidies are those that reduce fishers’ operating costs, which include discounted fuel, gear, and vessels. The National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project found that when fuel prices spiked, fishing was largely uninfluenced. According to Douglas McCauley, a marine biologist from the University of California at Santa Barbara, this means that fishing subsidies contribute to overfishing and decreased income for smaller, traditional fishers.
Countries must start acting responsibly by following mutual international fishing regulations and curb commercial fishery subsidies because only with mutual compliance among state actors can these issues be effectively combatted within the fishing industry.
The Role of Sustainability in Commercial Fishing
Commercial fishing plays a major role in the sustainability of the world’s marine captures. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14: Life Below Water aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development”. SDG Target 14.4 promotes the regulation of harvesting and seeks to end overfishing, IUU fishing, and destructive fishing practices. SDG Target 14.6 aims to end subsidies contributing to IUU, overcapacity, and overfishing.
These targets were set for the year 2020, in contrast to most other SDGs that mature in 2030 — and none were met. Significant progress on management and cooperation from all countries is crucial to develop sustainable marine resources and improve the well-being of those who are exploited. To do so, countries must start by adhering to SDG Target 14.C which encourages the implementation and enforcement of international sea law by 2030.
The bitter truth is that the world fish populations were doing far better in the 1970s than they are today. The 2020 State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture Report found that in 1974, nearly 90% of global fisheries were within biologically sustainable levels — where the abundance of fish stocks is sufficient to produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). Today, that number is down to around 65%.
With fish consumption representing at least 20% of all animal protein consumed globally in 2013, this percentage of the world’s food basket is likely to increase as consumers with rising incomes seek higher value seafood. Though some portion of demand is met by rearing and cultivating aquatic animals, also known as aquaculture, commercial fishing is still the leading source of seafood, catching roughly 93.3 million tonnes of fish compared to the 48.1 million tonnes of farmed fish annually. Additionally, more than 55% of the ocean surface is covered by industrial fishing — four times the area covered by agriculture. This evidently demonstrates that large-scale fishing activities play a major role in how the ocean is being used and impacted and that high demand for seafood may be a driving force for continuous illicit activities such as forced labor at sea.
Though still impactful, advocacy for consumers to eat less seafood and support small-scale fishers will not overcome this problem alone. Governments around the world need to work together to enforce stronger universal laws ensuring that all seafood is responsibly sourced and its stakeholders are safe and protected.
