Unregulated, illegal and unreported (IUU) fishing causes damage worth over $20 billion annually worldwide. However, the scale of violations is decreasing year by year, partly thanks to the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said Oleg Kobyakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation.
„IUU fishing is a scourge that can probably be compared in terms of damage to piracy in the 15th and 16th centuries. The annual damage from illegal fishing exceeds $20 billion. However, its scale is decreasing year after year, which is why the international community is united in this regard and this work is being carried out through FAO,“ he said.
Illegal fishing harms the economies of both the countries whose ships and crews are involved in this activity, and the countries and territories that buy this product. This type of fishing undermines international trade channels. Kobyakov added that previously unregulated fishing caused enormous economic damage to the Russian Federation, especially in the Far Eastern seas by ships of several neighboring countries.
Fighting illegal fishing
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) fights illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing through international agreements, legal assistance to countries and cooperation with other UN agencies. The organization has developed a binding international treaty - the Agreement on Port State Measures to Combat Illegal Fishing. 112 countries are parties to the agreement.
In addition to this document, there are also bilateral agreements. For example, the Russian Federation has concluded bilateral agreements to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing with almost all coastal states that have carried out significant fishing in the North Pacific Ocean - the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, Japan, China and the United States. A few years after the adoption of the Port State Measures Agreement, FAO also developed Voluntary Guidelines for Flag State Activities.
„The issue is currently being considered: member countries have proposed in the FAO Committee on Fisheries to transform these voluntary principles into a more effective and binding instrument. The Port State Measures Agreement is also supplemented by a number of practical guidelines for its implementation. This agreement has been translated into all FAO languages and is being actively disseminated“, concluded Kobyakov.