Estimating illegal fishing across the Indian Ocean

The project provides actionable insights regarding the state of illegal fishing across the Indian ocean, as well as methodological tools for measuring progress in the fight against illegal fishing on a regional scale. The methodology is a bottom-up approach primarily based on expert elicitation, and represents a repeatable, transparent, and cost-effective approach to estimating illegal fishing on a regional scale.
Ending overfishing and IUU fishing is target 14.4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a sub-target of ‘Life Below Water’. A 2020 FAO report estimates 30% of the Indian Ocean’s assessed stocks are fished at biologically unsustainable levels. For a region that is highly dependent on fish and marine resources for food and employment, deterring and eliminating IUU fishing in the Indian Ocean is critical for long-term sustainability, food security and poverty alleviation. However, despite widespread recognition of the impacts of illegal fishing action is often delayed. This is largely due to the complex nature of IUU fishing and the difficulties in quantifying the problem.
This project, which focuses explicitly on illegal fishing (excluding unregulated and unreported fishing), has four objectives. First, we aim to estimate the volume and value of illegal fishing for 30 species of interest in the Indian Ocean. Second, we aim to map hotspots for illegal fishing across the Indian Ocean basin. Third, we aim to characterize illegal fishing activities for a subset of species (e.g., fishing violation types, gears used to violate etc.). And last, we aim to identify regional policy gaps and opportunities for reform.
Fighting IUU fishing is an explicit target for the countries adjacent to the Indian Ocean, as well as several regional organizations operating in the region (e.g., Stop Illegal Fishing, FISH-i-Africa, Indian Ocean Rim Association, E€OFISH, RPOA-IUU). The last study estimating the level of illegal (and unreported) catch in the Indian Ocean was conducted in 2009. Updating two decade-old estimates is a challenging task for a multitude of reasons. First, estimating illegal activity is difficult irrespective of the focal region. Due to its inherently illicit nature, data sources useful for estimating illegal fishing are scarce. Second, building an estimate of illegal fishing is particularly challenging across the Indian Ocean basin due to the varied nature of fleets. Efforts to measure illegal fishing have in recent years focused on the capacity for remote sensing and vessel tracking to inform improved understanding. However, although a key source in aiding understanding of activities and behaviours, there are limitations to its use and application in the Indian Ocean.