Global Experts gather to Tackle Fisheries Crime

Markus Burgener, Sandy Davies and Per Erik Bergh, all members of Stop Illegal Fishing participated in an Expert Group Meeting on Fisheries Crime in Vienna, Austria, from the 24^th to the 26^th of February 2016. The meeting was convened by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and brought together law enforcement, legal, academic, policy, and technical experts from around the world to contribute towards a better understanding of fisheries crime and discuss the potential responses to it by all parties.

Speaking at the meeting, UNODC Deputy Executive Director, Aldo Lale-Demoz said, “Fisheries crime is highly organized. It cannot be tackled by a single country without cooperation, nor can it be tackled using only traditional compliance measures.”

WWF’s Marine Manager, Jessica Battle added saying, “The days when it was appropriate to write off such offenses as ‘it’s just fish’ are long gone. Destroying the resource base upon which individuals, households and communities rely is a serious matter.”

Experts at the meeting also discussed the need to address illegal fishing and other fisheries crimes from a criminal law enforcement angle in addition to the traditional fisheries management approach. Action-oriented recommendations for tackling fisheries crime were also promoted, as well as improved use of tools and mechanisms already available, and the development of practical new law enforcement and criminal justice responses to criminal activities in the fisheries sector.

Large scale criminal activity in the fisheries sector is rampant and highly lucrative. With these crimes frequently being of a transnational and largely organized nature, the sector is vulnerable to multiple issues including illegal fishing, corruption, document fraud, and human trafficking.

Sandy Davies noted, “This meeting built on the outcomes of the International FishCRIME Symposium, Cape Town October 2015 that were based around analysis of ‘cases, challenges, cooperation and change’ and it took us a step further, identifying the two levels of challenges at the policy and operational levels. For Africa this definition is essential, our Fisheries Officers face enormous challenges on a daily basis and they need political understanding and support about the severity and broad reach of fisheries crimes as well as practical options to help them deal with these multi-sector and often transnational fisheries crimes.”