Policy paper

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Action Alliance Pledge

Updated 28 September 2023

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the biggest threats to our ocean.

IUU fishing covers a range of illicit activities, including foreign vessels fishing in another country’s territorial waters, violation of international conservation laws or tracking requirements, and failure to report catches to proper authorities.

It threatens ocean ecosystems, coastal communities, and global food supply by undermining fisheries management efforts and distorting trade.

IUU fishing has also been linked to serious organised crime and multifaceted illegal activity, through drug and people smuggling, labour abuses and modern-day slavery.

It is estimated that IUU fishing is worth between £10 to £20 billion a year.

At the UN Ocean in Lisbon 2022 a collection of state and non-state actors came together and committed to tackling IUU fishing by supporting the IUU Fishing Action Alliance Pledge.

The IUU Fishing Action Alliance will lead international efforts to stop IUU fishing over the coming years, and will be expanded and deepened at key upcoming international events.

Overview of the pledge

The pledge commits members to:

1. Joining and effectively implementing international agreements: International agreements to prevent IUU fishing are already in place. Membership and implementation of international agreements isn’t comprehensive. The IUU-AA calls for the effective implementation of existing international agreements, accession to key agreements by those not party to them, and for international fisheries organisations, multilateral bodies, and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to expand efforts to address IUU fishing.

2. Effective Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS): Technological advances can support a robust MCS and enforcement landscape. But capacity building to strengthen fisheries MCS Is needed, particularly in developing countries. The IUU-AA encourage support for technology and capacity building initiatives bolster fisheries enforcement efforts and urge all flag States to effectively monitor and regulate their fishing vessels wherever they operate.

3. Improved transparency and data sharing: To maximise the effectiveness of these modern technologies, access and transparency of fishery data is needed. The IUU-AA calls for the utilisation of platforms such as the Global Information Exchange System, the interoperability of differently sourced data, the promotion of transparency and traceability throughout the seafood supply chain and improved data collection on harmful fishing practices related to IUU fishing.

The pledge

IUU Fishing Action Alliance Pledge:

1. Understanding the crucial role of our ocean for life on earth, that it is home to 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity and fundamental to the food security and livelihoods of billions of people.
2. Emphasising that cooperation between States, consistent with the UN Convention on Law of the Sea and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement, and well-managed and well-monitored fisheries are an essential component of healthy oceans, resilient coastal communities, and food security.
3. Recognising that IUU fishing threatens these ocean ecosystems, coastal communities, and global food supply by undermining fisheries management efforts and distorting trade.
4. Concerned that climate change is exacerbating these pressures on our ocean and is having a catastrophic impact on its health, including through loss of biodiversity and habitats, ocean acidification, deoxygenation and increased competition for resources.
5. Further recognising that IUU fishing can be interconnected with other troubling maritime security challenges, like forced labour, trade in illicit goods, criminal activity, and violations of global rule of law.
6. Highlighting the vital importance of increasing global backing and implementation of key international agreements that address the fight against IUU fishing and these related maritime challenges.
7. Recalling that countries have acknowledged the importance of combating IUU fishing, including through Sustainable Development Goal 14.4 and 14.6, and the 2001 UN Food and Agriculture Organisation International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate IUU Fishing.
8. Noting that coordination and partnerships across government agencies, between and among coastal, flag, port and market states, and with non-governmental organisations, civil society, and the private sector can assist in the fight against IUU fishing.
9. Further noting that data sharing and transparency play a key role in this fight by exposing bad actors and empowering governments and their stakeholders to identify and deter illegal activities, and that technological advances can support a robust MCS and enforcement landscape.

We, the Participants of the IUU Fishing Action Alliance commit to taking proactive measures – together and individually – to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing, by:

1. Supporting the effective regulation and sustainable management of fisheries in all parts of our ocean, including through the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) in which they participate.
2. Urging all flag States to effectively monitor and regulate their fishing vessels wherever they operate, including by maintaining and making public through appropriate means, records of those that operate beyond their national jurisdiction, and cooperate with coastal and port states to support the sustainable management of all fisheries and reduce the likelihood of illicit activities.
3. Encouraging international fisheries organisations, multilateral bodies, and States to expand existing efforts to address IUU fishing, including through improved transparency and technology, and joint enforcement efforts that support comprehensive fisheries MCS.
4. Implementing and building support for key international agreements, arrangements, and frameworks for combating IUU fishing, including the 2009 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Agreement on Port State Measures.
5. Welcoming the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies agreed at the 12th Ministerial Conference on 17 June 2022 as a step forward in curbing harmful fisheries subsidies.
6. Strengthening the regulation of transshipment activities, including by adopting national and multilateral measures consistent with the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Transshipment, when adopted.
7. Fully utilising the FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels and the Global Information Exchange System as flagship fisheries transparency initiatives.
8. Advancing information sharing and the interoperability of differently sourced data to enable greater international collaboration efforts and data sharing efforts worldwide.
9. Demonstrating and promoting transparency and traceability throughout the seafood supply chain, enabling market-based and import control tools and eliminating the flow of profits to IUU fishing perpetrators.
10. Welcoming and encouraging support for technology and capacity building that strengthens fisheries MCS, particularly in developing countries, including but not limited to leveraging public private-partnerships, the FAO Global Capacity Development Programme and PSMA Part VI Assistance Fund, and initiatives that conduct targeted personnel training to bolster fisheries enforcement capacities.
11. Improving data collection on harmful fishing practices related to IUU fishing, including labour abuses in the seafood supply chain, and increasing collaboration to better identify and address forced labour, unsafe working conditions, and other labour abuses in the fishing industry.
12. Advancing the implementation of international instruments that address these interlinked maritime challenges, such as the 2012 International Maritime Organisation Cape Town Agreement and the 2007 International Labour Organisation Work in Fishing Convention.
13. Acknowledging and supporting existing cooperative efforts to deter IUU fishing, particularly successful collaborative approaches that occur with and between developing countries and non-governmental partners.
14. Raising IUU fishing via high-level international fora and during ministerial and other high-level bilateral meetings with countries that should take additional steps to combat IUU fishing.
15. Calling on others to join the IUU Fishing Action Alliance by signing on to this Pledge.

The pledge is available in the following languages: - French - Spanish - Portguese

Pledge members

Current list of pledge members:

Members

• Canada
• Chile
• European Union
• France on behalf of its overseas territories
• Iceland
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Panama
• Republic of Korea
• United Kingdom
• United States

Supporters

• Environmental Justice Foundation
• Global Fishing Watch
• Global Tuna Alliance
• Oceana
• The International Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Network
• The Pew Charitable Trusts
• TM-Tracking
• Seafood Ethics Action Alliance
• Skylight

Related media

Read more about the Fishing Action Alliance and Our Ocean Conferences:

1. Founding the IUU Fishing Action Alliance (IUU-AA) 2022.
2. US remarks at the UN Oceans Conference, 2022.
3. UK statement at Our Ocean Conference, 2023.
4. IUU-AA joint statement at Our Ocean Conference, 2023.
5. New Zealand joining the IUU-AA following Our Ocean Conference in Panama, 2023.

For information on how to become a member of the IUU Fishing Action Alliance, email iuu.fishing@defra.gov.uk.