Washington, D.C. — Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its new report to Congress on international illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and bycatch. The report, which identifies 31 nations with vessels engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated fishing activities on the high seas, is the next installment in a series of publications regarding international fisheries management improvement. It additionally references cases documented in Choppy Waters — Greenpeace East Asia’s landmark report on forced labor and illegal fishing in Taiwan’s distant water fisheries.
In response, Greenpeace USA Senior Oceans Campaigner J. Park said:
“NOAA’s report to Congress confirms that pirate fishing is a global problem that implicates the US seafood market. As investigations from Greenpeace and others have documented for years, the use of forced labor is closely linked to illegal fishing. In order to protect people and the planet from the commercial fishing industry, Congress needs to take action and pass the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act. As long as the US market remains open to illegal, unreported, and unregulated seafood, widespread human rights and environmental violations will continue to occur at sea.
“While bycatch is certainly a serious concern in the 29 countries identified in NOAA’s report, it should be noted that US fleets also have a lot of progress to make on this front. US fisheries must tackle the problem of reducing bycatch and habitat damage from bottom trawling and other destructive fishing methods.”
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing is a top contributor to the loss of marine biodiversity and the depletion of the world’s fisheries, and is connected to human rights abuses of people around the globe. Greenpeace USA and its allies are calling on Congress to pass the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, an imperative step for the United States’ leadership in tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and human rights abuses in the commercial fishing sector.
Notes:
[1] The press release from NOAA is available here.
Contact:
Katie Nelson, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA: +1 (678) 644-1681, [email protected]
