Question Period Note: Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing

• Canada works actively with international partners to support sustainable fisheries and to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in our shared oceans.
• Canada is recognized as a leader in this regard, having championed the international adoption of strong, science-based fishing management measures, and undertaken significant enforcement efforts via satellite monitoring, air surveillance, and high seas boardings and inspections over recent years.
• We are working with our partners—including international partners—to help strengthen their capacity to monitor activities and enforce measures in their waters; for example, providing the Philippines and Ecuador access to our innovative Dark Vessel Detection system. The Dark Vessel Detection system is deployed to support 15 Pacific Island states.
• Through these efforts, and as the Chair of the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Action Alliance, Canada is driving global efforts to tackle harmful activity and protect not just Canada’s fisheries and ecosystems, but those around the world.

• It is estimated that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for between 20 and 30 percent of seafood caught worldwide, representing a value of up to $23.5 billion U.S.D every year. It poses a major threat to the sustainable and profitable management of fish stocks and is also increasingly linked to crimes of convergence such as drug trafficking and human slavery.
• Canada’s economy (75,000 jobs in the primary fishing and aquaculture sector) and natural resources are put at serious risk by IUU fishing. For example, it poses a risk to salmon population in the North Pacific Ocean and may be a driver of Pacific salmon declines.
• Through its membership in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), Canada negotiates legally-binding and science-based measures for the sustainable management of shared fish stocks, including in the high seas, and advocates for the adoption of strong compliance and enforcement regimes to counter IUU fishing.
• Since 2019, DFO has participated in Operation North Pacific Guard, a multilateral fisheries enforcement operation conducted in the North Pacific with the US, Japan, and Republic of Korea to detect and deter IUU fishing. In 2024, Canada led its second dedicated high-seas vessel patrol in the North Pacific, in addition to aerial surveillance patrols. While at sea, fishery officers conducted inspections of 15 fishing vessels under international law. Fishery officers found illegally harvested shark fins, evidence of fishing during a closed season and unreported catch, and documented instances of marine pollution. In addition, DFO found a number of vessels with their monitoring systems switched off – commonly referred to as “dark vessels”. The boardings also presented Canadian officers with their first opportunity to enforce the new ban on Pacific salmon retention, which has been in force for North Pacific fishing fleets since July 2024.
• Canada was involved in negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to adopt the landmark Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which prohibits subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing and for fishing activities on the high seas that are outside a relevant RFMO. The Agreement will enter into force when two-thirds of the WTO membership (110 members) have ratified. Canada formally accepted the Agreement in May 2023. As of March 2025, 92 members have ratified.
• Canada ratified the Port State Measures Agreement in 2019, which aims to prevent IUU fishing vessels from landing catches in the ports of member states, and actively advocates for the implementation of enabling rules in RFMOs to require monitoring from boat to port.
• In 2022, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom launched the IUU Fishing Action Alliance (IUU-AA), aiming to address IUU fishing globally by emphasizing transparency, technology utilization, and partnerships. Canada is Chair of the IUU-AA for until spring 2026.
• In 2022, Canada announced its Indo-Pacific Strategy and DFO established the Shared Ocean Fund (SOF), investing more than $80 M over five years to increase maritime cooperation and create a healthy marine environment in region while support measures against IUU fishing. To accomplish this, DFO is taking a three-pronged approach through enhanced governance, enforcement and partnerships.
o The SOF supports enhanced engagement at RFMOs where DFO negotiates legally-binding and science-based measures for the sustainable management of shared fish stocks and to counter IUU fishing.
o The SOF is also supporting the provision of access for various Pacific states to our Dark Vessel Detection (DVD) spaced-based surveillance platform, which uses satellites to track illegal fishing vessels and support marine security. In late 2023, Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippines to provide their maritime authorities access to the DVD platform.
o Through the SOF, Canada has expanded its partnerships to combat IUU fishing. This includes working with our international partners to develop and strengthen their fisheries management and compliance capabilities to manage fishing activity.

If pressed
• In 2024, Canada led its second dedicated high seas vessel patrol and fisheries enforcement mission in the North Pacific and conducted daily patrols via aerial surveillance. My Department’s Fishery Officers found illegally harvested shark fins, evidence of fishing during a closed season and unreported catch, and documented instances of marine pollution.
• In addition, a number of vessels with monitoring systems switched off—commonly referred to as “dark vessels”—were detected. Boarding these vessels presented Canadian Fishery Officers with their first opportunity to enforce the new ban on Pacific salmon retention, which has been in force for North Pacific fishing fleets since July 2024.
• At Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, Canada championed the adoption of strengthened, binding shark measures to minimize bycatch and prohibit shark finning. Canada has led the development and successful adoption of a measure to control the trans-shipment of fish in the North Pacific Ocean—a practice often linked to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activity.