IUU fishing Archives - Page 16 of 67

Dr. Hilborn: No-take MPAs “do nothing to mitigate” problems facing U.S. oceans

November 18, 2020 (Saving Seafood) — WASHINGTON — Yesterday, at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, respected fisheries scientist Dr. Ray Hilborn criticized the marine protected area (MPA) provision of the bill, which he called “the wrong tool for adapting to climate change.”

The provision, known as the “30 by 30” plan, would require the establishment of MPAs in at least 30 percent of American waters by 2030. In his testimony, Dr. Hilborn, professor of sustainable fisheries at the University of Washington, cited numerous threats facing U.S. oceans, including climate change, ocean acidification, exotic species, land-based runoff, plastics and illegal fishing.

“There are solutions to each of these problems,” Dr. Hilborn said. “But it is not no-take MPAs – they do nothing to mitigate these problems.”

Dr. Hilborn praised current fisheries management under the regional council process, which he called science-based and credible with industry and other stakeholders. He also pointed out that MPAs would simply push fishing pressure outside of the protected area into other parts of the ocean, with no net gain.

“MPA advocates ignore the fact that ‘30 by 30’ would cause 70 percent of U.S. oceans to see increased fishing pressure from the vessels that moved out of the 30 percent closed, and thus potentially be less resilient to climate change. Do we really want to make 70 percent of our oceans less resilient to climate change?” Dr. Hilborn said.

The hearing kicked off with Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-UT) introducing a letter organized in part by Saving Seafood and signed by over 800 seafood industry members opposing the “30 by 30” plan. Rep. Bishop added that “30 by 30” is “woefully misguided, does not improve fisheries, it undermines the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and even worse, it’s detrimental to Americans, especially American fishermen.”

Read Dr. Hilborn’s written testimony here

Watch the full hearing here

Sunken boats. Stolen gear. Fishermen are prey as China conquers a strategic sea

November 13, 2020 — On a warm, cloudless morning in June, a giant vessel blasted through the still waters of the South China Sea toward a wooden fishing boat painted in cerulean blue and flying the red flag of Vietnam.

The veteran fishing captain cranked up the engine to flee, but the approaching ship dropped two motorized dinghies into the sea with uniformed officers aboard. The rubber crafts raced along either side of the fishing boat, squeezing it like a pincer.

As the captain slowed to avoid a collision, the large ship was soon upon them. The large letters across its steel hull read: China.

Crammed into their cabin for safety, the 17 men were knocked to the deck by a jolt that nearly tipped the boat. Then another. And another. “Like war,” recalled crew member Nguyen Day.

Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times

How the digital wave is contributing to the rise of sustainable fisheries

November 12, 2020 — World fish consumption has almost doubled between the 1960s and now, and some estimates suggest fish contributes to at least 50 percent of total animal protein intake in developing nations. Despite higher demand for seafood and fish, world reserves have not kept up, and aquaculture is becoming more common as a result.

Aquaculture uses techniques of breeding marine species in all types of water environments as a means to supplement seafood demand. The practice comes with many advantages, including reducing the dependence on wild-caught species, but also raises environmental concerns, which some industry experts are trying to address with up-and-coming technologies such as analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence and the internet of things.

Jennifer Kemmerly, vice president of global ocean initiatives at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said a focus on sustainability is necessary in the field, as 3 billion people rely on seafood, and 60 million people rely on the seafood industry for their livelihood. But this demand comes with noticeable problems, Kemmerly observed during a breakout session during VERGE 20 in late October.

“There’s a lot of overfishing, or depleted fish stocks on the wild side of capture fisheries. There is illegality and mismanagement traceability back to the source of where the seafood is coming from, even whether it is farmed or wild… There are environmental issues and concerns that need to be dealt with,” she said.

Read the full story at GreenBiz

‘Prevent, discourage, confront’: South American states tackle Chinese fishing boats

November 5, 2020 — Four South American countries have joined forces in a bid to combat illegal fishing by huge Chinese fleets off their coasts.

Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have threatened measures “to prevent, discourage and jointly confront” illegal fishing near their exclusive economic zones in the Pacific.

The joint statement made no specific mention of China but environmental groups Greenpeace and Oceana have repeatedly warned of the growing presence of Chinese fishing fleets in the area.

The South American quartet said they would boost “cooperation and real-time exchange of information” to highlight the illegal fishing.

Ecuador in July complained to China over a 300-vessel fleet off Galapagos, saying around half of them had turned off their tracking systems so they could not be located.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Stafford fisherman free from British Virgin Islands jail after plea deal

November 3, 2020 — After a five-month ordeal in which he was imprisoned in the British Virgin Islands, Stafford fisherman Michael Foy accepted a plea deal Friday and is free to go, aside from paying a $4,000 fine.

Foy, 60, was arrested June 8 by British Virgin Islands custom officials and charged with illegal entry for violating the islands’ COVID-19 curfew.

He was subsequently charged with unregistered and unlicensed fishing, and failure to arrive at a customs port.

The Magistrates Court dropped the illegal fishing charges on Oct. 9. Foy’s attorney Paul Edwards of the law firm Hunte & Co. on Tortola, the largest of the British Virgin Islands, said Foy accepted a plea deal that would allow him to keep his fishing vessel, Rebel Lady.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

WWF report finds unregulated fishing escalating in Indian Ocean

November 3, 2020 — A new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) indicates that gaps in regulations resulting in unregulated fishing is putting fisheries in the Indian Ocean at risk.

The new report, titled “Unregulated Fishing on the High Seas of the Indian Ocean,” delved into the unregulated aspect of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by examining fisheries that have gaps in regulatory coverage. Released on 2 November, the report shows where unregulated fishing is happening, its impacts on species, and how it has expanded.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China’s Hunger for Seafood Is Now Latin America’s Problem

November 2, 2020 — China’s economic predation is back, this time in some of the most ecologically sensitive waters in the world—in the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, in Peru, and soon, the waters off Chile. In just one month, according to a report by Oceana, a marine conservation group, an armada of nearly 300 vessels spent an eye-popping 73,000 hours fishing off Galápagos. Far from a Chinese voyage of the HMS Beagle, the fleet is a brazen violation of norms around environmental protection and sustainable fishing (and sometimes sovereignty) and an attempt to plunder resources to meet growing Chinese demand. Chinese fishing could potentially wipe out vulnerable local communities that depend on the sea as a source of sustenance and livelihood. In turn, Latin American countries, along with the United States, must increase the menu of options available to monitor and deter this behavior.

It should surprise nobody that China’s distant-water fleet is now ambling about off the Pacific coast of South America. China’s fishing fleets form a nearly ubiquitous presence in the South China Sea and are also frequently found off the west coast of Africa. Visits to South American waters have likewise increased in recent years. The area is rich in fish populations because it benefits from the famous Humboldt Current, which carries nutrient-rich water from Chile all the way to the shores of southern Ecuador. Even as China’s waters suffer from depleted stockpiles, the Chinese public’s growing appetite for seafood has forced the Chinese Communist Party to search for solutions to secure its supply. Today, consumption there represents one-third of the world total. In turn, the country has had to look for fish stocks further afield—with devastating environmental consequences.

Read the full story at Foreign Policy

As China draws fire on IUU, China’s squid capital enjoys record growth

October 29, 2020 — With Chinese leaders meeting in Beijing this week to finalize the country’s five-year economic blueprint, the operators of China’s self-declared capital of squid processing are hailing a record growth in landings and processing volumes during the outgoing five year plan.

Officials from the Zhoushan National Distant-Water Fishery Industry Base invited regional media to tour the industrial park and port facilities to mark the completion of the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which will give way next year to the 14th Five-Year Plan, a document produced by the central government to guide China’s economy.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

ISSF Announces First Conservation Measure Addressing Social and Labor Standards

October 29, 2020 — The following was released by the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation:

The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) today announced the adoption of a new conservation measure requiring ISSF participating companies to develop and publish a public social and labor standards and/or sourcing policy that applies to the company and its entire supply chain. The measure will be in effect for processors, traders, importers, transporters marketers and others involved in the seafood industry associated with ISSF and includes production facilities and fishing and supply vessels.

“With the announcement of this conservation measure, ISSF is pleased to formalize our commitment to human rights protections in global tuna fisheries, a topic we have increasingly supported as our work toward sustainable fisheries has evolved,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “Conservation Measure 9.1 Public Policy on Social and Labor Standards joins the now dozens of ISSF conservation measures for sustainability best practices. With the majority of the world’s canned tuna processing capacity conforming to these measures — and with major tuna companies being transparently audited against them — we are driving unique and positive change across the world’s tuna fisheries.”

Conservation Measure 9.1 Public Policy on Social and Labor Standards states that processors, traders, importers, transporters, marketers and others involved in the seafood industry shall develop and publish a public social and labor standards policy and/or sourcing policy that applies to it and its supply chain, including production facilities and fishing and supply vessels, that addresses, at a minimum, the following categories:

Forced labor
Child labor
Freedom of association
Wages, benefits and employment contracts
Working hours
Health and safety
Discrimination, harassment and abuse
Grievance mechanisms

Under the new measure, a company policy will be considered public if it is published on the company’s website or is otherwise available to the general public. The conservation measure will go into effect on January 1, 2021.

About ISSF Conservation Measures & Compliance Process

ISSF is a global partnership among scientists, the tuna industry and the environmental non-governmental community whose mission is to undertake science-based initiatives for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna stocks, reducing bycatch and promoting ecosystem health.

Since its inception in 2009, ISSF has adopted conservation measures and commitments to facilitate this mission with the intent that processors, traders, marketers and others involved in the seafood industry will follow them to facilitate real and continuous improvement across global tuna stocks. Each ISSF participating company commits to conform to these conservation measures to improve the long-term health of tuna fisheries. They also must adhere to the ISSA Compliance Policy.

ISSF participating tuna companies, which represent the majority of the world’s canned-tuna production and include well-known brand names, are audited yearly by MRAG Americas on their compliance with ISSF conservation measures.

How Fish-Recognition Tech Is Assisting Demand for Canned Tuna

October 28, 2020 — The pandemic is forcing marine protection observers to adopt technology that monitors fishing boats remotely instead of getting on the vessels and risking infection.

Commercial fishing fleets are facing a jump in demand for canned tuna, but the coronavirus outbreak has prevented industry watchdogs and environmental groups from sending people onto boats to monitor whether the catches are sustainable. Traditionally, those observers spend months on vessels collecting data and watching for illegal activity.

Instead, some vessels are installing video cameras, sensors and systems that use algorithms to detect different types of fish and marine life, similar to the way Facebook Inc identifies people tagged in photos, said Mark Zimring, large scale fisheries program director at The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based environmental nonprofit organization.

The goal is to make sure boats don’t misreport the contents and volumes of their catches and ensure at-risk species like turtles and sharks are safely released when they’re caught by accident. Satellite imagery, machine-learning tools and artificial intelligence are also used to detect practices such as illegal shark-finning and labor abuses.

Read the full story at Bloomberg