International Fisheries Conservation and Compliance Issues

These three rules represent a new vision for high seas fisheries. To abide by these rules, flag States may no longer allow their fishing vessels to venture out onto the high seas the way that the early explorers ventured out beyond the frontiers of known society. Flag States must now actively oversee the high seas fishing operations of their vessels. They must decide on a case-by-case basis whether to authorize any vessel to fish on the high seas. Most importantly, they may not permit any vessel to fish on the high seas at all, unless they are able to prevent the vessel from undermining agreed conservation rules. The Agreement also seeks to increase the transparency of high seas fishing operations through the collection and dissemination of data. Parties must submit to FAO a wide range of information on each of their respective high seas fishing vessels.

If all States were parties to the FAO Compliance Agreement and other relevant international agreements, and if all States fully implemented their commitments under these instruments, there would be virtually no IUU fishing. Unfortunately, most of the flag States whose vessels are the greatest source of IUU fishing are not parties to these treaties. Encouraging these States to accede to these treaties and to implement effective control over their fishing vessels remains a top priority.

I do not want to give the impression, however, that only vessels flying the flags of non-parties to these agreements conduct IUU fishing. Even responsible fishing nations, such as the United States, do not achieve 100% compliance by their vessels. Ocean fishing, by its very nature, is difficult and costly to monitor. As fish stocks decline, the temptation to evade fishing rules grows. To deal with this daunting situation, the United States has been among the leaders of the international community in fashioning a comprehensive “toolbox” of measures to crack down on IUU fishing.

National Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

As part of the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the FAO has adopted a number of International Plans of Action (IPOA) to address specific international fisheries problems. Most recently, the FAO undertook a concerted effort to develop a comprehensive “toolbox” of measures that States could take, both individually and collectively, to address the problems of IUU fishing. This effort culminated with the adoption in 2001 of the FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

As its title suggests, the objective of the IPOA is to prevent, deter and eliminate IUU fishing. The principles to guide the pursuit of this objective include:

1. broad participation and coordination among States, as well as representatives from industry, fishing communities, and non-governmental organizations;
2. the phasing-in of action to implement the IPOA on the earliest possible timetable;
3. the use of a comprehensive and integrated approach, so as to address all impacts of IUU fishing;
4. the maintenance of consistency with the conservation and long-term sustainable use of fish stocks and the protection of the environment;
5. transparency; and
6. non-discrimination in form or in fact against any State or its fishing vessels. States were charged to develop their own National Plans of Action to implement the IPOA.

The draft U.S. National Plan of Action was developed over the past two years by the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Coast Guard, with input from the U.S. Trade Representative, the Customs Service, and others. It is undergoing a final review and should be released shortly.

It is organized along the same lines as the IPOA, including sections on All State Responsibilities, Flag State Responsibilities, Coastal State Measures, Port State Measures, Internationally Agreed Market State Measures, Measures to be Implemented Through Regional Fisheries Management Organizations and Special Requirements of Developing States. In addition to describing what the United States already does to fight IUU fishing, the National Plan of Action also lays out a wide range of recommendations for enhancing our abilities in this regard, such as changes to vessel registration rules, increased sanctions and penalties, tightened port controls, and broader outreach and capacity-building with other States.

ICCAT and other Regional Fisheries Management Organizations

My colleague from NOAA Fisheries has provided a thorough overview of the issues surrounding member compliance and illegal fishing within ICCAT. Although, with U.S. leadership, ICCAT has been at the forefront of developing innovative approaches towards controlling IUU fishing, it has become clear that ICCAT’s existing tools need to be re-examined and updated to reflect the changing nature of IUU fishing. As part of that effort, the Department welcomes Congressional action to support U.S. efforts in ICCAT such as H.Con.Res. 268, which reiterates U.S. commitment toward ensuring compliance with ICCAT measures and offers specific guidance how we should support that commitment. We do note that some parts of H.Con.Res. 268 would change the standard of review for taking trade measures from looking at the actions of a number of vessels to the actions of a single vessel. While we agree the United States should take every possible action to fight IUU fishing, such a narrow standard may present significant implementation difficulties. We would be happy to discuss this issue with staff.

In addition to the work carried out within the FAO and ICCAT, the United States is working in other regional organizations to address the issue of IUU fishing. In particular, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) has been working actively to address the issues of IUU fishing in the area regulated by the IATTC. In 2002, the IATTC adopted a resolution on purse seine fleet capacity. Among other things, the resolution specified that any purse seine vessel not included on the IATTC vessel register is not authorized to fish in the IATTC area. In the fall of 2002, a number of vessels from the western Pacific crossed over into the eastern Pacific to fish on a large biomass of yellowfin tuna that moved from the west into the eastern Pacific. The flag states of these vessels ordered the vessels to withdraw from the area once they were notified by the Director of the IATTC that the vessels were fishing in violation of the IATTC rules.

More recently, at its annual meeting in June 2002, the IATTC adopted measures, similar to the measures adopted in ICCAT, both for a catch certification scheme for bigeye tuna and for the development of a “positive list” of large-scale longline fishing vessels authorized to fish in the area regulated by the IATTC. The Commission also adopted a set of criteria for identifying “cooperating non-parties.” Key to such designation is that vessels from such non-parties provide all relevant data about their operations and that they respect all rules, regulations and resolutions governing fishing for highly migratory species in the IATTC area.

Finally, at a special meeting of the IATTC scheduled for this fall, the IATTC will consider a U.S. proposal on steps to be taken by members and cooperating non-parties of the IATTC in cases of non-compliance with IATTC conservation and management measures.