FAO.org

The increasing awareness of the problem of IUU fishing has been accompanied by a desire to understand the magnitude of the problem, in terms of the value and quantity of the fish being caught that can be considered IUU fishing.

The most frequently quoted estimates are based on an innovative and useful study concluded in 2009.

FAO commissioned a study of IUU fishing studies, in order to compare the strength of studies since 2009 in estimating IUU fishing along with their methodologies and to determine whether FAO should work to provide guidance for the future estimation of IUU fishing, at the national, regional or global level.

The thirty-second Session of COFI welcomed the Global Review of Studies to estimate levels of IUU fishing and supported the development by FAO of technical guidelines on methodologies and indicators for the estimation of the magnitude and impact of IUU fishing, which are currently under development.