To address the issue of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared 5 June as the International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

IUU fishing activities account for the loss of 11-26 million tonnes of fish each year, the economic equivalent of USD 10-30 billion, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). To address this situation, SDG target 14.4 urges the international community to, “by 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics”.

In June 2022, World Trade Organization (WTO) members clinched a multilateral deal on fisheries subsidies. The new treaty includes a set of rules prohibiting subsidies to IUU fishing, to the fishing of overfished stocks, and to fishing on the high seas outside the control of regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs).

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date: 5 June 2024
location: worldwide
www: https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-illegal-fishing-day