Question Period Note: Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing

Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported Fishing

Our government recognizes that illegal, unreported, and unregulated, fishing – or IUU fishing - is devastating to ecosystems and economies around the world.

As a member of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the Prime Minister has endorsed priority actions to eliminate this harmful activity.

We have committed nearly $12 million to develop new surveillance technologies such as our cutting edge Dark Vessel Detection project and support vulnerable developing states.

• IUU fishing is estimated to account for up to 30 per cent of fish landings worldwide and remove as much as $30 B from the world’s economy annually. It is increasingly linked to crimes of convergence such as drug trafficking and human slavery. Much of the high seas, beyond national jurisdiction, are under- or un-monitored. These areas are particularly susceptible to activities of IUU fishing.
• Canada’s economy (75,000 jobs in the primary fishing and aquaculture sector) and natural resources (especially straddling and highly migratory fish stocks) are put at serious risk by IUU fishing.
• Canada is a member of seven regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs), where Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is the government’s engagement lead. Beyond securing Canada’s access to fish stocks managed by these organizations, DFO officials also work to ensure strong and effective management measures, based on the best available science, are adopted. Overall Canada’s objective is to prevent overfishing and activities that could undermine the sustainability of those internationally managed species (including those caught incidentally). A fundamental component of RFMOs’ work to improve compliance with adopted management measures is the implementation of a robust monitoring, control and surveillance scheme.
• The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy has agreed to a headline commitment of 100 per cent sustainable management of ocean under national jurisdiction, by 2025. For Canada, this will be pursued through the development of a national blue economy strategy. A key pillar of a sustainable ocean economy revolves around Ocean Wealth, of which sustainable ocean food to support global food security, is a key component. From a fisheries perspective, the goal of eliminating IUU fishing is integral to achieving the overall objectives of sustainable ocean food, and therefore a sustainable ocean economy. Canada is actively involved in ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6) – i.e., by 2020, eliminate subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing and prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, while recognizing the need for appropriate and effective special and differential treatment (S&DT) for developing and least developed countries. Although the 2020 deadline under SDG 14.6 was not met, negotiations among the 164 members of the WTO continue to intensify with a view to concluding as soon as possible.
• Fisheries and Oceans is implementing the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Health Oceans, which included $11.6M in funding for developing new satellite based technologies to track illegal fishing, funding to develop an intelligence sharing network, and work with NGO’s to combat IUU fishing.
• Canada ratified the Port State Measures Agreement in 2019, which has as its objective, preventing IUU fishing vessels from landing their catches in the ports of member states.

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