Promoting Cooperation of Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance of IUU Fishing in the Asia-Pacific

Iwao Fujii, Yumi Okochi and Hajime Kawamura
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Iwao Fujii: Ocean Policy Research Institute, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Tokyo 105-8524, Japan
Yumi Okochi: Japan NUS Co., Ltd., Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
Hajime Kawamura: Japan NUS Co., Ltd., Tokyo 160-0023, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-23

Abstract: Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is becoming a growing threat to sustainable fisheries and the economy worldwide. To solve this issue, various efforts on monitoring, control, and surveillance (MCS) have been made at the national, regional, and international levels. However, there is still the lack of measures against IUU fishing vessels at the multilateral level. Here, we assessed the situations of fisheries, and the current systems and challenges of MCS in eight Asia-Pacific countries with a focus on MCS of IUU fishing vessels at sea. Through a literature review and interviews, we confirmed that IUU fishing was linked with the status of fisheries in each country, and that each country implements various MCS measures with different emphases. However, there was a trend of enhancing or newly establishing four areas of MCS: vessel tracking, patrol, onboard observers, and port State measures, with amended or newly adopted laws. We also identified challenges of MCS such as insufficient MCS in coastal areas and fragmented cooperation among the countries. Based on our findings, we advance several recommendations including the enhancement of cooperation among stakeholders, especially fishers, for co-monitoring in coastal areas and the establishment of a communication platform for Asia-Pacific countries.

Keywords: IUU fishing; MCS; vessel tracking; patrol; inter-regional cooperation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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