New Report: Seventeen Data Items Needed for IUU Fishing Controls

The Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF (the EU IUU coalition) have launched a report which highlights 17 key data elements that they say should accompany any fisheries products to provide a robust import control system. These include the vessel’s flag, catch area, IMO number, fishing authorizations, transshipment declarations, unloading ports and catching methods.

The E.U. introduced its catch documentation scheme in 2010, covering all marine wild caught fish traded by non-E.U. countries into the E.U. market. The U.S. introduced its own import controls, known as the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) in 2016, which covers 13 types of seafood identified as the most vulnerable to IUU fishing and seafood fraud. As other countries begin to develop their own systems, most notably Japan, the report aims to clarify the benefits and disadvantages of these systems.  In 2016, these three markets accounted for approximately 64 percent of the total value of world imports of fish and fish products or approximately 56 percent if trade within the E.U. is excluded.

The E.U. currently requests 13 out of the 17 data elements, the U.S. requests 12. The assessment shows that the E.U. and U.S. systems are 59 percent aligned with each other, demonstrating an opportunity for greater harmonization and information sharing between the world’s two largest seafood markets. 

The report is available here.