Reducing IUU fishing - and saving albatrosses - in the Southern Ocean via institutional collaboration

Henrik Österblom (Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden) and colleagues have reviewed Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported (IUU) fishing for Patagonian toothfish Dissostichus eleginoides in the Southern Ocean in the on-line journal Solutions.

The paper’s abstract:

“Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing is a key barrier for fisheries sustainability and an issue challenging fisheries managers worldwide.  However, there are some innovative examples of how institutions have developed solutions to this problem.  This article describes how the international community, including governments, the fishing industry, and environmental nongovernmental organizations has been able to address the critical challenge of IUU fishing of Patagonian toothfish, or Chilean Sea Bass, in the Southern Ocean.  In the 1990s, IUU fishing threatened to deplete toothfish stocks as well as substantially reduce the number of endangered albatross caught on baited hooks intended to catch toothfish.  Data from interviews, surveys, literature reviews, and official data on estimated levels of IUU fishing illustrates how solutions to these issues were directly dependent on in-depth collaboration between diverse stakeholders.  We illustrate the long process of defining and refining solutions to IUU fishing and show that there is substantial potential for other institutions managing fisheries to learn from the experiences in the Southern Ocean.”

Wandering Albatross in the Southern Ocean, photograph by John Chardine

Reference:

Österblom, H., Bodin, O., Sumaila, R. & Press, A.J. 2015.  Reducing illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean: a global effort.  Solutions 4(5): 72-79.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 April 2015