As presented in the Infographic below, fishing is considered as Unreported if:

  • Not reported or the reporting contravenes international RFMO or national laws and regulations.

Whereas, the undocumented fishing has the below features:

  • The fishing vessel has no nationality;
  • Fishing activities jeopardise fish stocks.

The IUU fishing practices worth 10 billion euros annually on a global scale. In addition they hold the 19% of the worldwide reported value of catches.

Also IUU fishing poses great threats to the sustainable fishing and damages to the environment, while also affects socio-economic conditions.

In the meantime, many EU and non-EU states cooperate to protect the fishing industry and promote compliance with International rules. IUU fishing affects legitimate operators who are hit by unfair competition and threatens food security and socio-economic conditions.

In the possibility that a non-EU country faces problems fulfilling international rules, the steps are:

  1. Pre-identification: The European Commission opens a formal dialogue during minimum 6 months. If the country improves its situation the 6 month period can be prolonged and ultimately the pre-identification can be removed. If the country does not address the problems it will be identified by the EU as non-cooperating.
  2. Delisting: Continued dialogue can lead to restore the import of legally caught fishery products.

Concluding, according to the EU more than 30 third countries have improved their systems to fight IUU.