The ocean, an engine for food, economic and environmental security is under assault from overuse—collapsing fish stocks, pollution, and the devastating effects of climate change. At the same time, fishing is big business, with over 56 million people working on vessels to support it worldwide. Despite this, the seafood supply chain is opaque, impeding effective fisheries management and risking the livelihoods and food security of millions.
Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU), an illicit business which generates estimated annual profits of $36.billion, poses unique challenges to states and communities, undermining their ability to manage fish stocks while also being associated with transnational organized crime, labor concerns and trafficking. These issues pose a direct threat to U.S. national and global security. This project provides decision makers with resources and information needed to quantify and understand the convergence of these critical issues and its links to other security threats.
Our work seeks to combat IUU fishing by operationalizing civil-military response to IUU fishing, supporting diplomacy between governments, and increasing cooperation between the security and conservation communities, with the goal of protecting valuable marine resources.
Through engagement with stakeholders around the globe, Stimson also serves as an advisor to the annual Our Ocean Conference, a global conference that focuses on commitments and actions to protect the ocean, while ensuring the ocean remains a foreign policy imperative entering the ocean decade.
"More serious measures must be adopted to strengthen implementation, expand the species list, increase risk targeting and global harmonization, and address forced labor"
March 28, 2023
NMFS should harmonize information requirements with the SIMP dataset, digitize entry filing, and require affirmation of compliance with labor laws
August 23, 2022
Program Director Sally Yozell called to testify to the House Natural Resource Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
April 7, 2022
A successful ban on Russian seafood requires an effective seafood tracking system, and Congress and the administration both have the power to make that system a reality.
March 31, 2022
The Stimson Center, NOAA, and WWF release the Summary Report from recent Workshop on the design, management, and implementation of seafood traceability programs.
March 10, 2022
Practitioners, technical experts, and fisheries officials from across the globe met to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the design, management, and implementation of seafood traceability programs at a recent workshop.
March 10, 2022
May 11, 2021
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