5.1 Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing

The tuna Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) maintain a list of all vessels determined to have carried out IUU fishing within their convention waters, and this list is available to the ISSF.

The IUU vessel lists maintained by RFMOs can include a range of vessels engaged in fishing activities, not just harvesting, such as transshipment activities. A vessel listed on the IUU list of one RFMO may fish in the convention waters of another RFMO and not be listed on the IUU list of this other RFMO.  IUU fishing diminishes the effectiveness of conservation and management measures and the long-term sustainability of the resources being managed.  IUU fishing denies the RFMOs important and valuable data and thereby undermines the effectiveness of their scientific programs.Processors, traders, importers, transporters, marketers and others involved in the seafood industry shall refrain from transactions in tuna caught by harvesting vessel(s) or transported by transshipment vessel(s) on the IUU Vessel List of any RFMO.