The United States asserts that the worldwide high demand for seafood is driving illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing practices.
Jennifer Littlejohn, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) in the United States, made this statement during a virtual press briefing.
She addressed the U.S.’s efforts to address environmental challenges in Africa during the briefing held on Tuesday in Accra, Ghana, ahead of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya.
Responding to queries from online participants, including the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), she elaborated on how illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing (IUU) has significantly impacted marine biodiversity over the past five decades.
Littlejohn also highlighted that the global increase in fish demand has intensified pressure on fish stocks worldwide, both in international waters and within national jurisdictions, resulting in adverse environmental repercussions.
She said, “As it (demand) continues to grow, there are more and bigger fishing vessels than ever before working to feed this market. And of course, we know that the lucrative but competitive global fisheries market also spurs vessels to try to avoid the operational costs associated with sustainable fisheries management by engaging again in IUU fishing.
“The 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity Ecosystem Services report on global biodiversity concluded that fishing has had the greatest impact on marine biodiversity in the past 50 years, which is exacerbated by IUU fishing.
“So IUU fishing can result in overfishing, which damages ocean biodiversity, and additionally, the use of prohibited gear can result in bycatch of non-target species, causing yet even greater harm to biodiversity.”
She noted that IUU fishing could also lead to the degradation of marine ecosystems, including coral reefs and seamounts, resulting in adverse effects on marine species reliant on these habitats.
Littlejohn mentioned that IUU fishing incurs significant economic costs globally, as highlighted in a recent report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimating annual catches of 26 million tons of fish, translating to tens of billions of dollars in losses.
The diplomat highlighted that U.S. seafood imports alone amounted to approximately two and a half billion US dollars annually, with nearly 11 percent of the U.S. market sourced from IUU fishing practices.
“Now, as both a major harvester and a top market for fishing products, the United States has, I would say, long emphasised working with other countries to improve fisheries governance and enforcement to prevent IUU-sourced fish and fish products from entering our markets, and I know that that is the same for markets around the globe.
“So speaking from the U.S. perspective, the United States is a leader in promoting sustainable fisheries internationally through effective, science-based fisheries management and cooperative tools to combat IUU fishing, including strong monitoring, control, and surveillance measures.
“Now, the United States promotes the implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement, a groundbreaking treaty designed to ensure catches from IUU fishing vessels cannot be offloaded in ports and then, of course, enter the global market,” she said.
Littlejohn said that the U.S. also helped launch, through the FAO, the Global Record of Fishing Vessels—it’s Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels—as part of the measures to curb the menace of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
“This innovative, publicly accessible record of the world’s fishing vessels increases transparency in international fisheries and enhances the ability of countries and markets to verify fishing’s identity,” she added.