Illegal fishing becoming top maritime security risk

Abstract

Experts highlight the scope of the threat in the Indo-Pacific region. Quick take:- Research suggests that up to one in five fish is caught and sold illegally worldwide.- Officials say that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is replacing piracy as the world’s top maritime security threat.- IUU fishing activities threaten the world’s ocean ecosystems and place law-abiding fisheries at a disadvantage.- Low levels of enforcement provide an entry point for maritime crime such as arms smuggling, drug running and human trafficking.- Weakly managed fisheries, inshore poaching by foreign vessels, and illegal activities by licensed ships are the biggest contributors to the IUU problem in the Indo-Pacific region.