Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing

Increasing Accountability At Sea

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Overview

Making information about who is fishing, what they catch, and where and when they operate publicly available is essential to tackling illegal fishing, improving fisheries management, and better protect the ocean.

A lack of transparency at sea makes fishing activities almost impossible to trace. Illegal fishers can exploit these gaps, particularly in countries with limited monitoring and enforcement capacity. 

Illegal fishing is a low-risk, high-reward activity that thrives where oversight is weak. It is also often linked to wider criminal networks involved in labour exploitation, human rights abuses, money laundering, fraud, and other illicit activities. The use of flags of convenience and complex corporate structures across several countries further enables illicit operators to hide their activities, evade accountability, and continue fishing with little scrutiny.  

Greater transparency is essential to expose these practices, protect marine ecosystems, and ensure a level playing field for law-abiding fishers. 

Oceana works to strengthen transparency and control at sea. We investigate fishing activities, identify gaps in fisheries monitoring and enforcement, and push national governments and the European Union to close them. We advocate for stronger vessel monitoring systems, effective controls on fishing activities and vessel engine power, greater transparency around vessel ownership and operations, and better access to fisheries information.

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