Barents Sea Fisheries – the IUU Struggle

Abstract

Considerable fishing operations occur in the European part of the Arctic Ocean, especially in waters under Norwegian and Russian jurisdiction, and regional states have recently made important advances in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. During the 2000s, illegal harvesting of Northeast Arctic cod reached levels that jeopardized stock sustainability and coastal-state quota restraint, shifted wealth from legal fishers to cheaters, and promoted corrupt practices in production and distribution chains. A strengthening of various port-state measures appears promising for combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the region. Such measures have evolved from unilateral refusal to allow landing of fish taken outside international quota arrangements to a multilateral Scheme of Control and Enforcement under the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC).