Combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, including through a legally binding instrument on Port State Measures and the establishment of a Global Record of Fishing Vessels
02/02/2009
FAO
It has been ten years since COFI first addressed illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. During that time, growing experience has allowed COFI and its Member States to enhance, diversify and improve approaches to IUU fishing. The challenges are ongoing, but there is a shared sense of the problem. Two pending initiatives are described in detail: the draft legally-binding instrument on port State measures and the establishment of a global record of fishing vessels. The paper also provides a brief review of a number of significant, current and ongoing initiatives to fight IUU fishing. The paper also identifies an emerging IUU issue: bycatch and discards.