Governance of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

Governance of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing encompasses a multifaceted framework of legal instruments, institutional arrangements and enforcement mechanisms designed to safeguard marine ecosystems, sustain fish stocks and protect coastal livelihoods. Central to this governance landscape are international agreements such as the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement and the Port State Measures Agreement, regional fisheries management organisations and national regulations that establish Monitoring, Control and Surveillance systems, catch documentation schemes and market-based measures. The interplay between flag-state responsibility, coastal-state jurisdiction within exclusive economic zones and the high-seas freedoms under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea underpins efforts to detect and deter illicit activity. Technological advances in satellite tracking, automatic identification systems and electronic traceability are increasingly integrated with community monitoring and interagency cooperation. Equally important are the economic and social drivers of non-compliance, including subsidies for distant-water fleets, opaque access arrangements and labour abuses at sea, which demand a political-economy perspective. Effective governance not only curbs ecological harm and illegal profits but also promotes transparency, equity and resilience in global fisheries.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have explored how collective bargaining among coastal states can reshape the political economy of fishing rights. One model demonstrates that regional integration of access agreements can simultaneously raise fish biomass and generate greater revenues for participating nations by shifting negotiating power from distant-water fleets to local governments. Another investigation has linked labour abuses at sea, including modern slavery, to weak fisheries governance and expansive subsidies for distant-water operations. By correlating national indicators of labour risk with governance metrics, this work highlights how strengthening reporting requirements and sanction mechanisms can reduce both overfishing and human-rights violations, underscoring the need for integrated policy responses.

Governance of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in governance of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing: Fishing activities that contravene national laws or international obligations, are not reported to relevant authorities or occur in areas or for species where no regulations exist or are enforced.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): A maritime zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from a coastal state’s baseline, within which the state has sovereign rights over natural resources and jurisdiction over related activities.

Fisheries Access Arrangements (FAAs): Agreements by which a coastal state grants foreign vessels permission to fish in its waters, typically subject to fees, quotas and conditions designed to share benefits and regulate effort.

Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS): A suite of tools and procedures—including patrols, electronic reporting, observer programmes and satellite monitoring—used to ensure compliance with fisheries laws and regulations.

Transshipment: The transfer of catch between fishing vessels and refrigerated cargo vessels at sea, which can obscure the origin of fish and complicate tracking efforts.

References

1. A geopolitical-economy of distant water fisheries access arrangements. npj Ocean Sustainability (2024).
2. Modern slavery and the race to fish. Nature Communications (2018).
3. Euros vs. Yuan: Comparing European and Chinese Fishing Access in West Africa. PLOS ONE (2015).
4. The collective effort of the United Nations Specialised Agencies to tackle the global problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Ocean & Coastal Management (2023).
5. Hot spots of unseen fishing vessels. Science Advances (2022).