The Pacific loses USD 123 million (EUR 112 million) in revenue annually to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU), according to an independent study conducted by the Pacific Islands’ Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).
Opening the FFA judicial conference in Honiara, FFA Director General James Movick said IUU continued to be a challenge in the region by undermining all conservation and management efforts while robbing its people of important revenue.
The FFA has completed a Ministerial Review of its fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms, which found that the value of product associated with some form of IUU fishing in the Pacific region was USD 616 million (EUR 560.8 million), of which about USD 123 million is lost economic rent – or money that could have gone to Pacific treasuries.
While this scale of IUU and its economic impact on the Pacific Island countries is significantly less than had previously been estimated, Movick said it was still a “sizeable amount” and that the region must continue to efficiently utilize its current monitoring, control and surveillance tools as well as keep progressing new and innovative methods to combat IUU fishing.
“As we improve on our current technologies and develop new technologies we need to be sure that our legal frameworks to utilize those technologies are updated and sound,” he said.
